If Only
by FromTheCouncilOfTimeWizards
Summary: A collection of oneshots. Each chapter is an AU/'what if' for a different episode. All chapters are completely unrelated, even if they are from the same episode. They can be completely different from original episode or just barely. T for some character deaths and because I'm sure I'll slip in a swear word somewhere. Beware: SPOILERS! Ch. 24: 1x07
1. 4x02

**AN: In case you were wondering, Merlin is not mine. **

**I know, I know, I was supposed to start ****_To Break a Curse_**** first. I will, I promise. It's just that I got a little carried away when writing out my ideas for this story, and ended up having a couple written. So I figured I might as well give you this to read while I start my other story. **

**So, you may notice that I might do two chapters of one episode. Just so you know, they will be COMPLETELY UNRELATED. If an episode comes up twice, the chapters will be different and not related to each other. Just FYI. **

**Also, for the chapters that turn out to be reveals, I'm not going to go too much into Arthur's angstyness - I'm saving that for my magic reveal story :)**

_Chapter 1 - 4x02, The Darkest Hour pt. 2, set when the group reaches the Isle of the Blessed and Arthur is about to sacrifice himself. _

As Arthur made to walk towards the Cailleach, Merlin's eyes flashed, and he was knocked unconscious as well as the rest of the knights. The Cailleach did not need a life to close the veil, but she would not do so without being given one, and he would not Arthur's be that life.

He walked up to the table Morgause had lost her life on.

The Cailleach eyed him. "So...you wish to sacrifice yourself in Arthur's place?"

Merlin stared back at her. "It is my destiny."

She watched him, thinking. She didn't care who died, really. It was just that this was not Emrys's destiny. He was destined to stay by the side of the Once and Future King for a longer time. She hardly cared, but there were some who did. Powerful people who did. The Disir, the Druid chieftains, the priests and priestesses of the Old Religion considered him an important part in the destiny of the future of the world, some even worshiped him.

She really just wanted to let him die. But she did not want the wrath of others brought down on her for allowing it.

"I'm afraid I must have someone else."

The words seemed to surprise him.

"Why?" he demanded. "Why can't you take me?"

She stared back at him with her old eyes. "I have my reasons," she replied coolly.

Just then, Arthur and a few of the other knights began to stir. The two creatures of magic turned to them .

Arthur scanned the scene. In a moment, he had realized what was happening.

"Merlin!" he said harshly. "What are you doing?"

But he knew what his servant was doing. He was trying to take Arthur's place, something Arthur had vowed he would not let happen.

The Cailleach moved towards them. "Who is going to sacrifice themself?" Her cold voice reverberated around the room.

Arthur struggled to get to his feet before anyone else.

"I am!" he declared loudly.

"No."

Merlin didn't shout, but his voice was surprisingly firm. Arthur gaped at him.

"_Excuse_ me?"

"No," Merlin repeated. "I said no. I will do it." He glared at the Cailleach.

The Cailleach glared back. "I told you, I will not take your soul. I will close the veil only if I receive another."

Arthur felt relief wash over him that she would not take Merlin, but he had no idea why she refused him. Taking advantage of this, he stepped forward, ready to offer himself.

Then something happened that took his mind a moment to process.

Merlin's eyes flared gold with magic, and Arthur suddenly felt a barrier grow between him and the veil.

_What?_

He stared at his servant as his eyes turned back to blue. No, Merlin couldn't have magic. Merlin was Merlin. Merlin was his servant, not a sorcerer. But unless his mind was deceiving him, Merlin had just used sorcery.

Merlin the sorcerer turned back to the Cailleach, which apparently took a lot of effort. "I am Emrys, and I demand that you spare the prince's life. You take mine, or none at all."

His brain felt stuck, it wasn't working. Sorcery was evil, Merlin was not, and Merlin was a sorcerer. How? How had a sorcerer lived in Camelot for years and Arthur never noticed?

Anger rose in the prince's chest. This was Morgana all over again. Merlin was the one person he trusted no matter what, and now he had betrayed him as well.

But then...why was he saving Arthur's life?

The Cailleach glared. "I will not accept your life. I demand another!"

Merlin's face was hardened with anger, a cold expression there that did not suit him. "You take mine, or none at all," he repeated. "You will not take the life of one of my friends."

Friends? Sorcerers weren't friends with knights, certainly not with knights of Camelot.

The Cailleach's fury was evident. She and Merlin glared across the table at each other. For a moment, all was silent as the knights of Camelot watched the silent battle going on between the servant and the gatekeeper to the other world.

Finally, the Cailleach lowered her gaze. Emrys would no doubt prevent her from taking any one else, possibly destroying her in the process, and if he could survive the Dorocha, then he could probably survive sealing the veil with his life. She would get nothing either way.

"You win this time, Emrys."

Merlin looked pleased with himself. He stepped forward towards the veil.

"No!"

A strangled cry came from somewhere behind Arthur. He looked behind him and saw Gwaine staring in horror.

"Merlin, don't!" he begged his friend. "I don't care that you're a sorcerer. Please - come back over here."

His words cut through the fog of confusion in Arthur's brain. Merlin could not die without giving him the answers he deserved.

"Merlin." He was surprised at how calm he sounded. "Come over here."

Merlin's eyes widened in surprise when Arthur spoke, but he ignored him all the same.  
Arthur turned to the Cailleach instead.

"Please - I will go. Don't take him."

The Cailleach was growing more and more irritated by the lot of them. "Fine," she snapped. "Leave, all of you."

Her spiteful eyes landed on Merlin.

"I may be powerful when it comes to the spirit world, but I cannot best Emrys in his world- the world of the living."

She raised her arms and began muttering a string of words. Merlin joined her after catching a few of the spells she was casting. Together, their combined efforts forced the veil shut.

When it was closed, the Cailleach turned to glare at them all, seeing that they had not left.

"Get out of here. And be thankful Emrys was here to save your _precious_ hides."

In a flash, she was gone, leaving Merlin standing next to where she had been, the glow fading from his eyes, and a resigned look on his face.


	2. 2x08

**AN: I will say it again, I do not own Merlin.**

**I rewatched Sins of the Father the other day, and I couldn't not write this. **

_Chapter 2: 2x08, Sins of the Father. Takes place towards the end when Arthur confronts his father about the circumstances of his birth.  
_

Merlin burst into the throne room to see Arthur with his sword at Uther's chest.

"Arthur! Don't, I know you don't want to do this!" he shouted, desperately trying to delay the prince.

"My mother is dead because of him!" Arthur snarled back without moving.

"Killing him won't bring her back," Merlin urged. "You've lost one parent. Do you really want to lose another?"

"Listen to him, Arthur," Uther spoke up, only to have the blade pressed more firmly towards him.

"Arthur please," Merlin begged, "put the sword down."

"You heard what my mother said. After everything he has done, do you believe he deserves to live?" The fury was still prominent in the prince's voice.

He redirected his attention to the king. "You have caused so much suffering and pain. I will put an end to that."

Merlin relented, seeing there was no other way of dissuading Arthur. "Morgause...is lying," he said, praying that they won't hear the tremble in his voice as he forced the lie out. "She's an enchantress, she tricked you. That was not your mother you saw. It was an illusion."

Arthur's expression had gone from deadly to painfully conflicted, but Merlin could see his words taking hold on his mind, and continued.

"Everything..." he blinked his tears away, this was important, he had to ignore the growing pain in his chest. "Everything your mother said to you, those were Morgause's words!"

"You don't know that!" Arthur retorted immediately, still refusing to remove his gaze from his father.

"It has been her plan all along-to turn you against your father and if you kill him, the kingdom will be destroyed. This is what she wants!"

These words seemed to impact Arthur more. He faltered, though still not changing his position. Uther made to move as well. "Listen to him. He is speaking the truth."

Arthur was shaking, sword gripped in his sweaty hands, but the moment Uther moved he tensed up once again.

"Swear to me! Swear to me you are not responsible for my mother's death!"

"Arthur, I swear, I loved your mother, I could never have done anything to hurt her..." Uther's voice became thick with emotion, remembering his deceased wife.

Arthur was on the verge of lowering his sword and pleading his father for forgiveness for being tricked by this sorcery, but something stopped him.

He straightened up, and this time his voice was steady.

"That is not what I asked. Are you responsible for my mother's death?"

The room was silent, Merlin was transfixed by the scene. Would Uther confess?

"Arthur, I swear it is not true."

Merlin was staggered by the fact that the king could just lie to his son like that. His dislike for Uther had been growing over the past few days, but now it reached its all time high.

But Arthur had grown up with this man. He had seen him use his perfected masks when dealing with diplomats and politicians. He knew which ones were fake and which were not.

"You're lying."

The king's eyes widened as the blade passed through his heart. His son slid it back out, ignoring the red running down it. The eyes of the king and the prince met, and the prince held the gaze until the king's emptied of life.


	3. 5x05

**AN: Merlin has yet to be mine. **

_Chapter 3: 5x05, The Disir. Set after Arthur asks Merlin whether or not he should allow magic back into Camelot._

Arthur sat staring into the fire while Merlin was off collecting firewood. He was taking advantage of his servant's absence to think.

Only a few minutes ago, he'd asked Merlin for his thoughts as to whether or not he should allow magic back into Camelot. Knowing Merlin's kind nature, he'd expected the man to suggest they give magic a chance. But instead, he'd said that magic should not be allowed.

At least, that's what his voice had said. But his eyes had been screaming something completely different.

Arthur had known Merlin for years now, and he could tell when something was upsetting his servant. Looking at his face, the king had been sure that Merlin had wanted to say yes, magic should be legalized, but instead he'd said the opposite.

He hadn't even given a reason! Merlin almost always gave reasons when he expressed his opinion - which he did a lot. No explanation or justification, just one sentence: "There can be no place for magic in Camelot."

Arthur thought back to some of his past experiences. There was Will, Merlin's friend from Ealdor. He'd saved Arthur's life, and the king knew that Merlin would never befriend a cruel or cold hearted person. And when the sorcerer had killed his father, Merlin had suggested that maybe he'd made a mistake, that he hadn't meant to kill Uther. Merlin was more forgiving than most people.

So the question remained as to why Merlin had said what he'd said. Most of the time, Merlin was keen on giving his opinions, but this time when Arthur had asked for his, he'd tried to avoid answering. And then he'd said what he clearly didn't want to. Why? With any other person, Arthur might have thought that they were afraid that Arthur would be angry with them if they even considered the possibility of magic being legalized. But Arthur had seen Merlin tell him off many times, daring to say things no one else would. Merlin was never afraid to give Arthur a piece of his mind.

Maybe he thought magic should be legalized, but he thought Arthur would still be biased? That he would never give them a fair trial, or be quick to blame sorcerers? Somehow Arthur didn't think so. It would still be better, in Merlin's eyes, than being executed no matter what, and it would be a step forward to accepting magic.

Then came a third, unpleasant possibility. Was someone threatening Merlin? Or perhaps Arthur? Maybe there was someone who really didn't want sorcery to return to Camelot, and was willing to kill to keep it from doing so?

Anger rose in Arthur as he thought about someone threatening his friend. Well, he would not play along. Merlin had clearly wanted to tell Arthur he should allow sorcery. So that was what Arthur was going to do. And after he gave the Disir his decision, he would demand that Merlin tell him if he was being threatened.

0o0

When morning came, the king and the servant trudged back to the cave where the Disir were waiting.

"Well?" came the cool voice of one of them. "What is your decision, Arthur Pendragon?"

Arthur took a deep breath. "I will allow sorcery back into Camelot."

"What?!"

Merlin's exclamation, louder than he'd intended, echoed around the cave walls. Arthur ignored him and looked straight at the Disir.

"I have made my decision," he said firmly.

The Disir were quiet a moment. "Very well," said the middle one. "The boy will die."

"What?!" Arthur shouted angrily. "The deal was my acceptance of sorcery for Mordred's life!"

"Yes, that was what you thought. However, we have seen the prophecies. Mordred was destined to be your death. Had you rejected magic, our punishment would have been to let the boy live."

Arthur had no response to that. Mordred was destined to kill him? Mordred was almost as bad as Merlin, the way he followed Arthur around like a loyal puppy! Why would he kill him?

Arthur was about to voice his doubts, but they died in his throat. The Disir had just chanted a spell, and a scene appeared on the wall behind them.

It was a battle. Dead soldiers littered the ground. Only two people stood standing, Arthur and Mordred. As they watched, Mordred ran his sword through Arthur.

The image faded. "That was the old prophecy," the nearest of the Disir said. "But with Mordred's death, a new destiny is emerging."

The scene faded back - except that it was a different scene. Arthur was standing on the balcony, standing next to Gwen, who was holding a baby. Both of them looked alight with happiness as Arthur announced the birth of their child to the joyful crowd. Merlin was there as well, standing next to Arthur in robes he'd never seen before, looking happy as well.

Then the image faded once more.

"Return to Camelot, young king, and do as you promised."

Arthur nodded. "I will. And...thank you."

He turned to leave. "Come on, Merlin."

He didn't notice Merlin's near-ecstatic grin, nor his dizzying relief.


	4. 1x10

**AN: Merlin is many things, but mine is not one of them. **

**So I thought I'd mix it up a bit by adding a chapter from season 1 after one from season 5. Hope you like it!**

_Chapter 4: 1x10, The Moment of Truth. Set after Will is shot by the arrow meant for Arthur. _

Merlin stared as Will slumped on the bed, the arrow still in his chest. Tears pricked at his eyes as his childhood friend lay dying on the cot, if he wasn't dead already.

"Out of the way," came a voice from behind him. He recognized it as belonging to Tyler, the village healer. He stepped aside and allowed the elderly man to take a look at Will.

Merlin winced when Tyler removed the arrow and blood gushed from the wound, but the healer bound it tightly with bandages. When the worst of it had been addressed, Merlin felt it safe to ask.

"Is he going to be alright?"

Tyler looked up at him, sympathy in his face. "I cannot yet say. He is badly hurt, the arrow caused internal bleeding and may have grazed his heart or a lung. Only time will tell."

Merlin nodded mutely. He would gladly have stayed here until Will woke up, but he could see, out of the window, that everyone else was cleaning up the aftermath of the fight. He sighed. He would have to go help.

Just as he exited Tyler's house and was about to help with the cleanup, he felt a hand close around his arm. He looked around to see that it was Arthur.

"He's a sorcerer," Arthur said quietly. "That's what you were talking about, wasn't it?"

"I-yeah," Merlin stammered. Now that he heard there was a chance, however faint, that Will might live, he felt guilty about lying. But Will had already said it was him. Merlin would have to talk to Will after he woke up.

Arthur sighed and ran his hand through his hair. "You should not have kept this from me, Merlin."

At this, Merlin felt annoyance rise in him. Will had just saved Arthur's life!

"Why, so you could have executed him sooner?" he said angrily. If that's what Arthur intended to do if Will got better, Merlin would come out and tell him the truth, because he would not let Will take the fall for him more than he already had.

Arthur looked slightly surprised at Merlin's reaction. "Merlin, he's a _sorcerer_," he said slowly, as though explaining something to a child.

"Gee, really? I had no idea," Merlin said sarcastically. "I've known him longer than you. He's a good person and he just saved your neck. What a great way to thank him, with an execution!"

Merlin turned and stormed away, bitterly thinking about how much worse Arthur would react if or when he found out it had actually been him.

"Merlin, wait! I never said I was going to execute him."

The servant paused at Arthur's voice.

"Then what _are_ you going to do?"

Arthur sighed, and Merlin could see his conflicted emotions flit across his face.

"You are right, he has just saved my life, and it would be dishonorable to have him killed, not matter the circumstances. And I cannot punish him in Camelot, for my father would find out and have him killed."

He paused, and both of them could see the only conclusion left to draw.

"So, for now, I will let him go without punishment."

Merlin could see the effort it took for his master to force those words out, but he hardly cared. Despite his reservations, Arthur had let Will off. Suddenly feeling much happier, he grinned.

"Thanks, Arthur."


	5. 4x08

**AN: Merlin's not mine, in case anyone was thinking of suing me.**

**I feel slightly guilty about doing the Lamia episode, because lots of people have done fics before when the knights feel guilty about what they did to Merlin. Honestly, this was a fairly easy chapter to write, and it's kind of a lazy chapter for me. Sorry. **

**Plus I should mention I haven't actually watched this episode in a while. **

_Chapter 5 - 4x08, Lamia. More of a tag - takes place after the episode, when the knights wake up on the way back to Camelot and remember what they've done._

Gwaine moaned. Jumbled memories were floating around his brain. He tried to make sense of them: Lamia, Merlin, Gwen, the knights -

He sat bolt upright, but regretted it because it made his head spin. Merlin! Recollections were bombarding him - the knights shoving Merlin around, punching him, calling him "servant." Had they really done that? No, Gwaine would never do that to Merlin willingly, Merlin was his best friend...

And then more memories came back to him. Lamia.

Gwaine swallowed as he was bombarded with waves of guilt. It hadn't been just a nightmare. He, along with the rest of the knights, had hurt Merlin.

Merlin was his best mate. He was always cheerful and optimistic. Whenever Merlin was hurt by bandits or during a fight, Gwaine had been enraged that someone could hurt upbeat, couldn't-hurt-a-fly Merlin. Seeing his friend injured was horrible, and every time it happened Gwaine wanted to go after the thug that did it and make him pay.

And now he was that person.

To distract him from his crushing guilt, he looked around to see the other knights waking. He watched their faces turn from confused to horrified, and knew they must be thinking the same thing. They silently confirmed this with each others' grim faces.

"Where's Merlin?" Gwaine asked anxiously. He was torn. On one hand, he didn't think he could look his friend in the eye after what he'd done. But the other, overwhelming part of him needed desperately to make sure that Merlin was alright, and that he knew they didn't mean anything they'd said or done while under Lamia's influence.

"We have to find him," Elyan said, saying what they were all thinking.

"There." Leon pointed to where Merlin was sitting, a few yards away, cooking over a fire.

They looked at each other in silent agreement, and steeled themselves for what they had to do.

Merlin tried to ignore the aches from his fresh bruises as he stirred the stew, occasionally looking over at the knights. At first, he couldn't help being slightly hurt by their actions, even though he knew it wasn't their fault. Then, he realized it was unfair - after all, if Morgana could manage to enchant him, with all his power, to the point where he nearly killed Arthur, who he was sworn to protect, he supposed he could excuse the knights being major jerks while being influenced by seductive magic.

Suddenly, a shadow fell over him. He looked up to see the knights standing over him. He pushed away the wariness he felt at this. They're back to normal now, he reminded himself.

They looked nervous. Gwaine spoke first.

"Merlin, mate, we remember what happened...with Lamia and everything. And we just wanted to say...we're really, really sorry."

"We didn't mean any of it," Percival said earnestly.

"We wouldn't have done any of it if it weren't for Lamia," Elyan said, and then, before Merlin could speak up, hastily adding "Not that that excuses us."

"Guys, it's all right. I understand," the servant told his friends.

This only had the effect of making them look more guilty. "No, it's not all right, it's wrong what we did-" Gwaine began, looking ready to start a rant.

"Gwaine. Calm down." Merlin said firmly. "Trust me, I have seen what magic can do."

As he said it, he realized how true those words were. He had seen magic twist a person's will, fall in love with near-strangers, and change their personality. The last scraps of hurt he had left from his friends' abusive behavior flitted away.

The knights still looked troubled, so Merlin smiled.

"Really, guys. Besides, if I get mad about it later, I'll just take it out later by slipping something gross into your supper," he joked, and was glad to get a few wry chuckles.

Arthur suddenly returned from collecting firewood, which Merlin had gotten him to do with threatening him with a delay on food. His eyes narrowed as he saw the knights awake, but Merlin gave him a pointed look. Arthur stared, apparently surprised that Merlin had forgiven them so easily.

The knights set about cleaning up camp, wanting to help out the servant even though they had been forgiven. While they were all distracted, Arthur leaned in to speak quietly to Merlin.

"You know, if you change your mind, I could always leave them in the stocks for a few days."


	6. 5x02

**AN: I think I would know if I owned Merlin.**

**So I'm not super proud of this chapter - I almost didn't post it. But here it is. I hope you like it...**

_Chapter 6 - 5x02, Arthur's Bane pt. 2. Set when they are in the caves and Merlin finds Aithusa._

"Aithusa?" Merlin asked, looking at the slightly shaking white dragon before him. "What've they done to you?" he whispered as he took in her appearance.

Aithusa flinched away from his touch at first, but then allowed him to stroke her. He felt his heart clench at her frail look, remembering the energetic, beautiful young dragon he had hatched.

He had neglected her. He'd hatched her and then left her on her own, assuming Kilgarrah would care for her, or that she would be fine on her own. And now because of his mistake, she was living in a cave, unable to speak, and in the possession of Morgana.

Well, he would not abandon her or his dragonlord duties this time.

"Aithusa, wait here. I will come back for you, I will help you," he whispered.

0o0

Merlin staggered through the caves, his head spinning with what had just happened. Mordred had turned on Morgana, and Merlin had learned that, though Mordred was destined to kill Arthur, he was not Arthur's bane. They had left already, so now he had to find his way out on his own. But his brain still felt fuzzy from Morgana's ambush, and he felt like he was forgetting something...

His eyes widened. Aithusa!

He found her exactly where she had been before. He knelt down in front of her.

"I'm going to get you out of here," he promised. "You should be out flying in the open, not stuck in a cave."

He turned to leave and beckoned for her to follow. She stayed put, and Merlin could sense her reluctance.

"What is it?" he murmured. "Is it Morgana?" It was strange to think of Morgana having a pet.

Aithusa perked at the mention of her mistress.

"Aithusa, I'm sorry, but we'll have to leave her here..."

Aithusa whimpered and lowered her head.

"Hey," Merlin said gently, "don't worry. I'll take care of you, better than I did last time. Do you remember me? I hatched you. I won't hurt you, I'll make sure you're safe."

Aithusa still looked hesitant. Merlin sighed.

"If you still miss her, you can come back, okay?"

He did not want Morgana possessing Aithusa, not only was it an advantage on her side, but she would most likely fill what Merlin still thought of as an innocent young dragon's mind with her own hate, and Merlin did not want Aithusa growing up with that. However, he would not abuse his power as dragonlord and force her to leave.

After a moment's pause, Aithusa dipped her head, almost like a nod. Taking that as a good sign, Merlin began walking back out of the caves, and Aithusa hesitantly followed.

Merlin broke into a grin. "That's it," he coaxed, leading her slowly but steadily out of the cave.

When they finally reached the exit, Aithusa looked longingly at the dark sky. Merlin could tell what little times she got to fly were few and far between.

"Go on," he told her, smiling as she spread her wings and soared, not having to worry about being seen. He watched her for a few moments before she landed again.

"We're going to go home now," he told her, "and the first thing I'm gonna do is see if I can get you to talk."

Together, dragon and dragonlord made their way back to Camelot. Merlin tried to steer clear of where he thought the rest of the knights would camp. Aithusa caught them food. Merlin used his memory as best he could to make sure they didn't get lost, and Aithusa could fly up and see which direction they needed to go.

They almost got caught going through Queen Annis's land, but a few well-chosen spells from Merlin redirected the attention of the patrol.

At last, after a few days of travel, Camelot's turrets came into view, for which Merlin was very glad. The journey had been tiring, even with Aithusa's help. He stopped at the clearing where he usually met with Kilgarrah, fairly certain that no one would see them, as darkness had just fallen.

"You can stay in the forest, as long as you don't get caught," he cautioned her. "You can see if Kilgarrah will let you share his cave. I have to return to the castle for the moment."

Gaius's chambers were warm, something he was grateful for after the some of the cold nights he had spent while returning from Ismere. The physician was finishing up his routine before getting ready for bed, but stopped at the sight of his ward, looking travel-weary but happy.

"Merlin!" the elderly man exclaimed. "Where have you been? The knights have been searching for you!"

"Never mind that, how do you fix a dragon's speech?"

**If you want to see a certain episode made into a chapter, leave me a suggestion and I'll consider it!**


	7. 5x13

**AN: If Merlin were mine, I have a feeling I would have a lot more money. **

**Hai everyone I'm back! And I got your lovely reviews :) **

**Bananaberry12: Hmmm, I almost made my 5x05 chapter a reveal, but didn't at the last minute. Maybe I'll try playing around with that :) Thanks for the review!**

**battlemaiden518: Thanks for your imput. I am currently working on your suggestion and hope I will be able to post it soon :)**

** .Wen: I might do something on your idea, but if you're interested someone else has already done a good job of it. Under my favorites list is a story called 'Starving a Warlock Isn't Wise' by ForIHaveOvercomeTheWorld. Check it out if you're interested! :) Thanks for th_e_ comment.  
**

**Also, I realize I am doing lots of episodes from seasons 4 and 5. I will try to add more of a variety of seasons for those of you who haven't seen all of them. **

_WARNING: MAJOR SPOILERS FOR LAST EPISODE  
_

_Chapter 7: 5x13, The Diamond of the Day pt. 2. Set towards the end, where, in the original episode, Arthur is about to die. Another Arthur lives fic, because, face it, no one liked how the series ended.  
_

This was not happening.

Merlin's mind refused to process it. Arthur was not dying in his arms, with no treatment this time. He had worked too hard, sacrificed so much, and been rewarded so little. He had not done all that for Arthur to die now, when he had just found out about Merlin's magic.

All this time, the one thing that had kept him going was the knowledge that it would lead to his destiny. When things had gotten hardest, when Arthur was the least motivated and Merlin had had to pick him up off his feet, having fate to rely on had kept him sane. He'd come so close to giving up before, only to have Kilgarrah insist that things must be done, that he could not afford to slack off.

So he'd kept going, waiting for the moment when he would be accepted, for Arthur to achieve his destiny.

And this...this couldn't be it.

But now Kilgarrah was standing in front of him saying it was fate, that there was nothing he could do. Fate, which Merlin had relied on, which had kept him going, had turned around, disregarded everything he had done, and stabbed him in the back.

Well, two could play at that game.

He would not let everything he had done count for nothing. He blocked out Kilgarrah's blathering about fate and destiny and prophecies. He was going to fix this, damn it, he was going to save his friend, even if it was the last thing he did.

His magic, itching to come out, was repressed. He let it build, gaining strength, like a volcano building pressure before an explosion. He gathered all his strength, focusing all his energy.

And then he let it out.

A wave of power burst from him, the focal point, the air around him rippling with it. Even Kilgarrah staggered backwards with the sheer force of it. Plants went haywire, the life energy sending them up from the ground, growing faster than was natural.

And then it was gone, leaving nothing but a tingling feeling in the air.

0o0

Arthur was slightly confused. His last memory was of Merlin holding him, begging him to stay, and wishing with all his heart that he could, but feeling the dark magic taking his life. Then he'd slipped away into nothingness. He'd expected to wake up in whatever the afterlife was.

But he felt...warm. And the smell of the grass and the feeling of Merlin lying next to him were still there. But that didn't make any sense, the pain was gone...completely. But surely that must mean...?

He opened his eyes. He was exactly where he had been moments before. Except now Merlin was sprawled beside him, apparently unconscious.

"MERLIN!"

A roar made him jump. He looked up and his jaw dropped.

The dragon, the one he had supposedly killed, was standing before him, waving his neck in agitation and staring down at the limp form below him. And apparently, it could talk.

Arthur instinctively went for his sword. "What have you done to Merlin?" he demanded of the beast.

The dragon eyed him, but not with aggression. "I haven't done anything, it's him you should be asking what he's done!"

Arthur, still braced in case the creature decided to attack, noticed that there was a trace of...fear in his voice? But what could scare a dragon?

The noise seemed to rouse Merlin, whose eyes fluttered open, but Arthur noted that had a slightly glazed-over look.

"What have you done, Merlin?" the dragon bellowed, and the sorcerer winced at the noise.

0o0

Kilgarrah was yelling at Merlin, asking him what he'd done. But he knew. He'd felt it as the wave of energy passed over him.

Merlin had defied fate itself.

Kilgarrah hadn't thought that was possible. But Merlin had always liked to do the impossible. Especially being born with more power than any human on Earth. Destiny had given him that power - apparently it had given him enough power to turn the tides of fate.

And he would never admit it, but the great dragon didn't like it. Being a creature of the Old Religion, he had powers of prediction to match the druids, though perhaps not that of their elite seers. Unlike the humans, he could practically feel the presence of fate working around him, which prophecies were at work and which had yet to pass.

But now, one of them had shattered into nothing. Merlin had broken it's hold over him and Arthur.

"What have you done?" the dragon demanded of his dragonlord.

The warlock looked up at him weakly. The amount of energy he'd released had left him exhausted. But Kilgarrah could see that he still held onto his defiance.

"I saved him," was his stubborn reply.

Kilgarrah had nothing to say to that. It was true, after all.


	8. 1x03

**AN: I may love Merlin, but I do not own it.**

**Another shortish chapter :P I apologize. **

_**battlemaiden518 -I am working on my 4x04 chapter, but between my other stories I haven't finished it, so I posted another pre-written one until it's done. **_

**If you have a suggestion of an episode, leave me a review!  
**

Gaius and Merlin watched anxiously as the guards tore apart their chambers, and Merlin tensed further when he saw the prince enter his room. He couldn't remember if he'd hidden his magic book last time he'd had it out. Heart beating wildly, he prayed that Arthur would not find any incriminating evidence.

Then the prince's voice echoed throughout the chamber.

"Next room, men. Go ahead, I will join you in a moment."

The guards noisily left the physician's chambers. When the last one had left, Arthur walked slowly out of Merlin's room.

"Merlin," he said in a deadly voice, "care to explain this?"

Merlin's blood ran cold. In Arthur's hands was the book of sorcery Gaius had given him.

He swallowed. Arthur was glaring daggers at him.

"I...I didn't-" His brain had frozen, Arthur's stare pinning him down and making him feel pathetic.

"You're a sorcerer, aren't you?!" Arthur said, his voice rising.

"No! I mean-" Merlin debated what to say. Lying would get him into more trouble, but he couldn't deny he was scared. Scared of the pyre, a fear that was enforced by the disgust appearing on his master's face.

"Yes," he whispered. He always had been a horrible liar."Yes I am. And you can kill me, but that will not solve your problems, because I didn't cause the sickness, I swear."

"Oh?" Arthur said in a tone of mock surprise. "You swear? Well then, I better believe you!" His tone turned angry. "A sorcerer, Merlin. I can't believe you were my servant." His face twisted in disgust, and he turned to leave. "You are under arrest."

"Wait!"

Merlin hadn't meant to yell, but panic made his voice rise.

"I know you probably hate me now, but if you arrest me, your problems will not go away! In fact, you'll probably have more because I won't be around to save your royal neck! I didn't start the sickness, and no matter how much you don't trust me anymore, at least believe that. Arrest me if you must, but don't let everyone else suffer because you're being a prat."

Arthur paused. Maybe it was the fact that Merlin had just inadvertently reminded him that his servant had saved his life - which was how he'd gotten to be his servant in the first place- or maybe it was the desperation in his voice. Or maybe it was that it was so like Merlin to say something like that that made Arthur reconsider.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, thinking. His father would definitely not pardon Merlin.

"My father will not believe you," he said.

Merlin swallowed, and the prince could see the fear in his servant's eyes. "I can help," he said urgently. "I can find a way to stop the sickness...if you give me a chance."

Arthur stared. Everything his father had ever told him about magic was screaming at him from the inside of his mind. But those thoughts clashed with the ones that surfaced after looking at Merlin's petrified and desperate face.

Merlin appeared to still be Merlin. He didn't look any different from the day before, when he had been grumbling about the huge pile of chores Arthur had given him.

But if he had been acting all along, couldn't he still be acting now? A sorcerer would surely have to be good at deception if he were to survive in Camelot.

He wavered, completely at a loss as to what to do. Then his gaze slipped past Merlin.

Gaius was giving him one of those stares. The kind of stare he used to get when he was younger, when Gaius could tell he was considering something foolish, and was silently challenging him to do the right thing. Gaius had not seemed surprised at the revelation that Merlin was a sorcerer, so he probably knew. And Arthur had known the physician all his life. He knew Gaius would never harbor a sorcerer if he was dangerous.

He closed his eyes and tried to block out the voice in his head that sounded like his father that was yelling for Merlin's immediate death.

"If you show any signs of trying to hurt anyone..."

He meant to sound threatening, but Merlin's face split into a wide grin like a child who'd just been promised a large quantity of sweets.

"I won't let you down."


	9. 4x04

**AN: I do not own anything Merlin-related**

_**This chapter is for battlemaiden518, who left me a suggestion in the reviews. If you're reading this, I hope you like it! I wasn't sure if you were hoping for a dragonlord reveal. This chapter isn't but if you wanted one, let me know and I'll do another chapter of this episode. **_

**COMING SOON - Another 4x04 chapter, in which the knights feel guilty for not letting Merlin eat, and a 4x06 chapter, in which Arthur finds Merlin in Morgana's hut. Thanks for the suggestions, guys! **

**Again, if you want to see me do a specific episode, just leave me a review! :)**

_Chapter 9: 4x04, Aithusa. Set when the group is heading back to Camelot after Merlin rescues the dragon egg. _

Where was the food?

Merlin had gone off collecting firewood, leaving Arthur and the knights waiting for supper. But the king had gotten hungry in the few minutes his servant had been gone and promptly began going through all the bags, looking for something to eat. Just a small snack, really.

He spotted Merlin's bag off to the side. Arthur had noticed Merlin had been almost...protective of his bag the entire afternoon. The king hadn't thought much of it before (Merlin did weird things all the time), but now he was curious. Maybe Merlin had kept some food in there, and was planning to eat it himself to get back at the knights.

Arthur grinned. While the knights talked and laughed around the dying fire, the king walked over quietly and lifted the flap of his servant's bag.

His jaw dropped.

Sitting in Merlin's bag was a large, round, blue object. At first glance, it appeared to be a stone. But closer inspection showed it was really the shell of an egg.

It was the dragon egg. What else could lay an egg this big?

And then it hit him. Of course. Merlin hated killing animals, he detested hunting. Apparently, that protectiveness stretched as far as saving a dragon egg.

Arthur knew he should be angry. But it made him laugh. It was so typically Merlin.

A moment later, said manservant's footsteps could be heard traipsing back to the camp. The skinny man appeared, carrying a load of twigs. His eyes fell on Arthur and he paled visibly.

Gwaine noticed. "Merlin, mate, what is it?"

The other knights heard and followed Merlin's gaze to where Arthur had stood, holding the egg.

"Merlin," the king said with a grin. "What's this?"

"I...uh," Merlin stammered, clearly nervous.

"I gotta say, I never thought even you would rescue a dragon," Arthur said, amused. But his expression quickly turned serious.

"You shouldn't have done it, Merlin. You went into that tower, didn't you?"

Merlin's turned-down gaze was answer enough. The knights stared as they, too, registered the implications of that statement.

"That was dangerous, Merlin. You could have gotten hurt."

Merlin looked up, surprised. He clearly though Arthur would be angry that he'd saved the dragon.

Arthur sighed. "Well, at least we have it now." He put it back in Merlin's bag. "When we get to Camelot, it'll go in the vaults, we can destroy it later, it shouldn't be hatching anytime soon."

He looked at Merlin. At some point, he'd have to explain to his servant that he could not keep a dragon as a pet - which, honestly, he wouldn't put past Merlin.

He didn't notice Merlin's small smile. The vaults were easy to break into. The egg would be gone by the next morning.

The ride back to Camelot was fairly uneventful. Merlin complained, and Arthur called him a girl. The knights continued their joke of not letting Merlin eat anything, so the warlock was pleased to arrive home so that he could actually get a meal.

And, as ordered, the egg went straight to the vaults.

0o0

When night finally arrived, Merlin stole Arthur's keys once again and went down to the vaults. He found where the egg was locked up grabbed it quickly. All went well.

Grinning in triumph, he called Kilgarrah to the clearing where they usually met. The dragon arrived within minutes. Merlin was waiting with the egg.

"Is it still alive?" the warlock asked when Kilgarrah had landed.

"It can live for more than a thousand years," the dragon rumbled.

Merlin beamed. "So you are no longer the last of your kind."

Kilgarrah gave a small chuckle. "It would seem not."

Merlin looked back down at the egg as small scratching noises came from it. "When will it hatch?"

"Young dragons were called into the world by dragonlords. Only they had the power to summon them from the egg. As the last dragonlord, this duty falls to you, Merlin."

Merlin swallowed nervously, but his voice was determined. "How do I summon it?"

"You must give the dragon a name."

Merlin closed his eyes. For a moment, he didn't move. Then he whispered in the tongue of the dragons.

_"Aithusa."_

The shell cracked. Merlin's eyes snapped open in time to see a small white head poking out of the egg.

"A white dragon is indeed a rare thing. And fitting, for in the dragon tongue you named him after the light of the sun," Kilgarrah murmured. "No dragon birth is without meaning. Sometimes the meaning is hard to see, but this time I believe it is clear. The white dragon bodes well - for you, for Arthur, and the land you will build together."

Merlin laughed, joy written across his face at the newborn dragon now standing before him.

0o0

Merlin rose the next morning, tired, but still happy from the previous night's events. He dressed and ate, feeling nothing could ruin his good mood.

Then he got to Arthur's chambers.

The king was already awake and sitting at his desk. And he was staring hard at a confused manservant.

"Arthur!...you're awake," Merlin noted.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am," the king said tersely. "Merlin, did you know someone broke into the vaults last night," he continued, fiddling pointedly with his quill.

Merlin froze.

"Sire?"

Arthur still didn't look at him. "The dragon egg was taken, but everything else was left untouched."  
He finally looked up to meet the eyes of his nervous manservant.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, would you?"

He wasn't laughing this time. His tone, instead of being light, was low and deadly.

"I-" Merlin had no idea what he was going to say, but judging by Arthur's expression, the king had figured it out.

"Damnit, Merlin, I know you have problems killing animals, but a dragon?!" he yelled, slamming a hand on his desk. "I let you off the first time, but this is ridiculous. Dragons are dangerous, they are monsters and they cannot be allowed to roam free around Camelot!"

Merlin looked down. He knew this was mostly Uther's fault, but sometimes he just wanted to punch his prat of a king in the face.

"Return the egg."

Arthur's tone was sharp and commanding. Merlin's eyes snapped up. "What?"

Arthur glared. "Return the egg, and there will be no consequences."

Merlin bit his lip. He couldn't tell Arthur Aithusa had hatched already, Arthur would scour Camelot until he found and killed the dragon.

"No."

His response seemed to surprise Arthur. His eyes narrowed dangerously.

"Merlin, I'm serious. I am ordering you to return the egg. It must be contained."

_You mean killed._

The face of the white baby dragon swam to the front of his mind.

"No," he repeated.

He knew it would be risky. For all their joking around, Arthur sometimes was serious if he thougt the situation required it, and now was one of those times. He fully expected Arthur to get angry with him, probably yell at him.

He was not disappointed.

"Merlin, this is important. Do you want to see all of Camelot destroyed?" the king shouted.  
Merlin flinched slightly but refused to back down. "It won't," he replied simply.

Judging by Arthur's expression, the royal was ready to throw him in the dungeons.

"Right," he snarled. "You just tell yourself that. You always say 'I told you so'. Well, if we don't find that egg, next time it might be me saying it. You better pray we find it, Merlin, or I won't be responsible for what happens to you. I need a servant I can trust, Merlin," he added, surely knowing the words were like a knife in the chest to his manservant.

The king then stormed out of his chambers, slamming the door and leaving Merlin in the same spot he had been.

The warlock sighed. Arthur would probably be angry at him for a while, but then he'd get over it, just as he had with everything else. After all, Arthur was completely lost without him.  
He reached out to Kilgarrah in his mind.

_Kilgarrah? I need to ask you a favor..._

He suspected Kilgarrah would not like being appointed babysitter. But someone had to keep Aithusa away from the hazard that was Camelot.

**I realize Arthur didn't have much of a reaction at first, but come on, how often does Arthur take Merlin seriously?**


	10. 4x04 II

**AN: I don't own Merlin, so if you could not sue me, that'd be greaaat. **

_**This one's for .Wen who suggested this!**_

**p.s. This chapter is totally unrelated to the last, even though they are from the same ep. **

**More suggested episodes to come: 4x06, 5x05, 2x09, and 2x13**

**Thanks if you reviewed! **

_Chapter 10: 4x04, Aithusa. Set when the gang is returning to Camelot. _

"Merlin!"

Arthur's indignant voice sounded through the morning air. Merlin snapped out of his thoughts. The king was staring at him from his horse, as were the knights.

"Sorry, what?"

Arthur's eyebrows were raised. Gwaine evaluated.

"He just called you a dollophead and an idiot and you didn't say anything."

"Oh." Merlin cast around for something snarky or sarcastic to say. "Well, it takes one to know one."

The knights snickered, and Arthur just rolled his eyes. Merlin plastered on his usual smile. He was glad for their banter to distract him, both from the fact that he was concealing a dragon egg in his bag and from the tight hunger pains he felt in his belly.

He knew the knights were only playing a joke on him. It was a knight thing to prank each other, and Merlin supposed they wouldn't eat all the food if they didn't consider him a friend.

Still, he wasn't enjoying the sensation of a having stomach that hadn't seen food in a few days.

The knights continued to talk and joke, and soon Merlin found himself zoning out again. He began daydreaming about getting back to Camelot and having one of Gaius' prepared meals waiting for him.

"Shh! Everyone, quiet!"

Everyone got quiet, even Merlin paused to listen. At first, there was nothing. Then they heard it: a low rumbling noise coming from nearby.

The knights immediately looked around for a wild animal, hands on the hilts of their swords. But Merlin, blushing furiously, realized the sound was his empty stomach.

After a few moments, the knights looked around at Merlin, confused. The warlock's face reddened even more as everyone stared at him.

"Merlin?" Gwaine spoke first.

The servant shifted awkwardly. "Sorry," he muttered, even though none of his companions looked annoyed. On the contrary, they all had looks of dawning concern.

"Merlin...when did you last eat?" Leon asked hesitantly. Merlin stared at him. Seriously?

"I don't know..a few days, I guess," he replied slowly, and winced slightly as his stomach gave another, more insistent growl.

The knights looked staggered. They looked at each other, shock and guilt appearing on their faces.

"What?" Merlin said, annoyed. They purposely ate all the food, then were surprised when he didn't eat anything?

"You haven't eaten...anything?" Elyan asked.

Merlin shook his head. "No. A bunch of prattish knights ate all the food."

He meant it as a joke, but they all flinched. Merlin's eyebrows shot up.

"What? I was busy, alright?"

Gwaine shook his head slowly. "Merlin, why didn't you tell us?"

Merlin stared incredulously at the somber knights. "Tell you what? What was I supposed to do?"

"Eat," Gwaine said sharply.

Merlin threw his hands up in exasperation. "Eat what? What's the big deal?"

"Oh, I don't know, just the fact that you nearly starved yourself," Arthur snapped. Merlin stared at him. It was the first time he'd spoken up, he'd been frozen with shock, but Merlin's words had pushed him to speak.

"Sorry," he said, an edge to his voice.

"No, Merlin, we should be the ones who're sorry," Gwaine said. The other knights nodded and made sounds of agreement. "We shouldn't have kept the food from you. We didn't realize you really didn't have anything to eat."

Merlin looked around at the guilt-ridden faces. "Guys, its fine. I have to skip eating sometimes anyway, so I'm used to it."

He froze. "That sounded better in my head," he mumbled as the knights looked even more shocked and concerned.

"Why would that be?," Gwaine said, in a way that told Merlin he had a pretty good idea.

"I...er...just stuff," Merlin said evasively.

A few of the knights looked sideways at Arthur, trying to be discreet. The king simply looked dumbfounded, evidently concluding that by "stuff", Merlin meant all his chores(which was part of the reason). He quickly tried to cover it up with a blank expression.

"Well, that'll have to change, won't it? Can't have my servant not finishing his work because he collapsed from hunger." His tone was teasing, but there was an undercurrent of genuine worry. Merlin could tell he was remembering the few times he had passed out in Arthur's chambers due to a particularly exhausting excursion involving saving the dollophead's life mixed with limited time to eat - though the king now only knew half the reason for his "fainting like a lady," as he had put it.

"You heard him," Gwaine put in. "From now on, you eat. I don't care what he tells you to do. Got it?"

Merlin didn't dare protest to Gwaine's fierce, protective demeanor, which the other knights quickly adopted as well.

"All right," he said. "I'm fine, though, seriously."

His friends looked somewhat relieved, but the last traces of guilt had still not left most of them. Merlin sighed. He had a feeling he wasn't going to hear the end of this for a while.

But when they started moving again, his lips quirked upward in something of a smile.

**Wanna see a specific episode done? Leave a review!**


	11. 4x06

**AN: Merlin is not mine. If it were, certain things would be very different. **

_**This chapter is for mellarkfan121, who suggested this. **_

**Wow! SO many chapters to write. If you suggested an episode, thanks a bunch! I will get around to doing everyone's idea. **

_Chapter 11: 4x06, A Servant of Two Masters. Set when Merlin is trapped in Morgana's hut, but Arthur and Gwaine set out to find him sooner. _

All day.

All day Arthur and Gwaine had been searching for Merlin. All day they'd gotten their hopes up only to have them dashed. All day, they'd struggled with the possibility that Merlin might, after all, not be coming back.

They came close many times to giving up. But then Gwaine would remember his friend's cheerful smile, or Arthur would imagine waking up to George everyday, and they'd pressed on, determined to find Merlin.

And, though none of them said it, determined to find the body if necessary. That thought was to horrible to say out loud.

"All these things Merlin does, just for the good of doing them," Gwaine rambled as they rode through the forest. "Never expects any praise-"

Arthur suddenly waved at him to be quiet. "Shh. What's that up there?"

They slid off their horses and crept forward. Arthur pointed ahead.

It appeared to be a small hut. It looked dark inside, and there were no signs of anyone around except for a faint trail of smoke coming from the short chimney.

Gwaine's eyes lit up with cautious hope. "Do you think some one found him and tried to treat his wounds?"

Arthur was silent. He hoped that to be the case. The alternative was that the mercenaries had finished off Merlin as soon as the servant and the king had been separated by the rockfall.

"Let's go see," the king whispered back. They began walking down towards the little hovel, being silent in case whoever was inside was hostile. The place just gave off a feeling of foreboding.

Arthur peeked in through a small window and withdrew immediately, heart pounding.

"What is it?" Gwaine hissed impatiently.

"Morgana," Arthur murmured. "And she's got Merlin."

Gwaine paled. "Are you sure?"

Arthur nodded. There was no mistaking what he'd seen. He thought the sight of Merlin strung up from Morgana's ceiling would be added to the many that haunted his nightmares.

"We have to get in there," the drunk said urgently. He made to move for the door, but the king held him back.

"Wait! You can't just go barging in there. We're no use to Merlin if we get caught too."

Reluctantly, Gwaine retreated to their hiding spot. "Alright. What's the plan?"

After circling the hut, they found a small entrance at the back. As silently as they could, they slipped through it. They were blocked by several shelves of strange, probably magical objects that made Arthur's skin crawl just looking at them. He was grateful for the cover, however, because it allowed him and Gwaine to observe the scene before them.

Morgana was wringing a towel over a small basin. A few feet a way was Merlin, suspended by his wrists. He was not moving.

Arthur's breath caught, and he heard Gwaine's do the same. If Merlin was dead, immediate death would not be good enough a punishment for Morgana.

_Come on Merlin, you idiot, wake up_, the king thought, as though by thinking it he could make it so. But Merlin just hung there, silent and unmoving, every second staying still adding to the knights' slowly growing panic.

Then Morgana walked over to her prisoner. They stiffened, watching closely. If she hurt Merlin...

But instead, she pulled the shirt aside over where his wound was and began cleaning it.

Arthur was confused, and saw that emotion mirrored on Gwaine's face. But a moment later, all of it left and was replaced with blissful relief.

Because Merlin had finally woken up.

He looked stiff, uncomfortable, and was probably in pain. But he was awake.

Morgana spoke as she washed his injury, not looking at him.

"I believe I asked you a question before you fell asleep on me."

"What are you doing?"

The hidden knights winced internally. Merlin's voice was rough and tight with pain, but it was also without a tremble of fear.

"Haven't you ever seen Gaius clean a wound before?"

"No, I know what you're doing, what I don't know is why."

Arthur couldn't help be a little impressed by his servant's bravery, but it quickly turned to worry as Morgana grabbed his face, clearly angered.

"I believe I asked you a question first." She stared him in the face. "Why are you so loyal to Arthur? Many times over you have nearly died for him."

From behind the shelves, Arthur's eyes widened. Unable to help himself, he leaned forward, hoping to hear Merlin's answer.

The servant jerked his face away from her. "I would not expect you to understand, Morgana. You have no sense of duty, no sense of loyalty."

Arthur smiled slightly. If anyone knew anything about loyalty, it was Merlin.

"You're wrong," Morgana murmured. "Don't think I'm not loyal just because I have no one left to be loyal to."

She then placed her hand over Merlin's bloodied skin and began to recite a spell.

"No!"

Gwaine charged out from his hiding place, unaware all Morgana intended to do was heal Merlin. Arthur followed quickly, drawing his sword, watching shock flit across the features of both Merlin and Morgana.

Gwaine was feet from Morgana when her eyes glowed molten gold. The knight was thrown back, his weapon flying from his hand. Another flare of Morgana's irises, and the king was forced down on his knees, paralyzed.

"Well well...look at this, Merlin, the king and his drunk pet want to play hero by rescuing you," the witch said, sneering down at her attackers. "Oh, this makes everything so much easier."

Arthur didn't say anything, but Morgana had a wicked gleam in her eye that scared him. He looked over at Gwaine, who was stirring feebly. Before he could do anything other than sit up, however, Morgana caused a rope to slither over and bind Gwaine in its tendrils.

Merlin stared at the scene, wide-eyed. Up until now, he'd considered using his magic to escape. Maybe when Morgana wasn't looking, loosen the chains or cause something to fall on her. But now Arthur was here, staring at him(probably trying to figure out how to rescue him), and the warlock knew there was probably no way he could use magic without some one seeing.

He was distracted as Morgana pulled out a small, round, silver disk with an engraving on it. It made him tense up, he could feel, even from here, that it contained dark magic.

He wasn't quite sure what happened. All he knew was that he blinked, and there was a creature composed of snakes, hissing at him, and Morgana was speaking to it.

"I have summoned you for a very good reason, my friend," she murmured. She glanced at her prisoner, and the snakes did as well, hissing viciously at the servant.

Morgana took out a knife. Merlin flinched slightly as she used it to slice off one of the snake heads, which was quickly replaced by another.

"This is a fomorroh, Merlin," Morgana said conversationally. "In the days of the Old Religion, it was used by high priestesses to control the minds of their enemies."

Merlin tried to keep the disgust off his face, even though every part of him was urging him to stay away from the creature.

Slowly, Morgana approached him with the spitting head. He refused to flinch away, even though it repulsed him.

"Once it has taken hold on your mind, everything that makes you Merlin will be gone. You will be left with one goal, and you will not be able to rest until you have fulfilled it." Her cruel smile grew. "That goal is simple: kill Arthur Pendragon."

0o0

Arthur listened to his half-sister's speech with growing revulsion. How had Morgana turned into this? The old Morgana would never have done this to them. But Arthur could tell that Morgana was now actually looking forward to this in her own twisted way, to watch Merlin be forced to kill his king, which Arthur knew would destroy Merlin when his mind was returned to its normal state. She was doing this simply to be more cruel.

He struggled, and sensed Gwaine do the same behind him, as Morgana came nearer to Merlin.

"That goal is simple: kill Arthur Pendragon," she said, her eyes shining with excitement.

And then, before anyone could react further, she reached up and held the snake to Merlin's neck.

Instantly, Merlin's face scrunched up with pain, and his limbs shuddered as the thing forced its way into his neck. Arthur could only watch in horror, his state of helplessness stopping him from launching himself at the witch.

And then, Merlin was still. He turned to look at Arthur as Morgana freed him, but his eyes were different. They had a darkly eager gleam to them, and the fear left him.

"Do you have a knife?" he asked Morgana in a voice that lacked its usual warmth and good humor. She handed him the weapon, clearly relishing what was about to happen. The king struggled harder as his own servant advanced on him with the blade.

Suddenly, they were all distracted as Gwaine gave a shout. He'd managed to reach the dagger in his boot and cut himself free. Snatching up his sword, which was still lying where it had fallen minutes before, he ran at Morgana once again.

She flicked her eyes at the last moment, and the knight stumbled backward. What happened next seemed to happen in slow motion.

Gwaine teetered on his heel a moment before Morgana's defense and gravity took hold and he fell backwards. As he did, one of his hands flew out instinctively. It knocked against the table holding the fomorroh. The small table wobbled, and the creature, hissing wildly, tumbled off and into the hearth, where it's dying hisses mingled with Morgana's scream of rage.

Merlin, who had been inches from stabbing his friend, blinked, confusedly. Then, as he took in his surroundings and deduced what had happened, he dropped the knife as though it were a snake about to bite him and stepped backwards, looking horrified at how close he'd come to killing his friend.

Morgana's expression was one of rage, she looked between all of them as though unsure who to punish first. Merlin looked around wildly for something to do. As soon as Morgana turned her head to glare at Gwaine, he glanced up at the ceiling and, using the silent magic he had come accustomed to, sent the roof caving in on the witch.

She shrieked with annoyance, batting away the falling components of the roof, as none of them were really that heavy or damaging. However, it was enough for Arthur to reach out and drag Gwaine to his feet, grab hold of Merlin's arm, and drag them all back towards the exit he and Gwaine had used to get in.

They had just scrambled up the hill that partially hid the hovel before a scream of fury told them Morgana's temporary distraction was over.

"RUN!" bellowed Gwaine. Arthur agreed wholeheartedly and began to sprint, but stopped and looked back when he realized it was only him and the other knight.

Merlin was stumbling weakly as quickly as he could towards them, and Arthur felt a spike of guilt and worry. They had forgotten that Merlin was still injured.

He raced back and pulled Merlin over his shoulders the way he had while they had ran from the mercenaries, ignoring the servant's protests of "just leave me!" and ran as fast as he could.  
Arthur wasn't sure how long they ran before they stopped to rest. Looking around and seeing no sign of their pursuer, he slid Merlin off his back gently onto the ground.

Gwaine sent the servant a worried look. "I think we lost her," he said, scanning the trees.

Arthur nodded. "But we can't stay here long or she'll find us. Merlin, can you travel?"

Merlin winced but nodded.

"Good." He heaved the servant back up, slinging an arm around his shoulders.

"We'd better get going, then."


	12. 5x08

**AN: Merlin is not mine, and I do not foresee any circumstances in which it might be. **

**This one was a request, but I probably would have ended up doing this chapter anyway, 'cause I had the same idea. **

**Don't worry, everybody. I'll get around to doing all of your requests!**

_Chapter 12: 5x08, The Hollow Queen. Set after Merlin has been poisoned by Morgana._

Merlin had been missing all day. Where was he?

Arthur never thought he would admit to missing Merlin, but a few hours ago, the words "I want Merlin back, where is he?" had left his mouth while Gwen was dressing him. He never realized just how much he depended on his servant until he went missing.

So, as soon as he got some free time, he ran down to the tavern, determined to drag Merlin out of there if necessary.

But he wasn't in the tavern.

His feeling of foreboding grew. If Merlin wasn't in the tavern, where was he? Was he actually in trouble?

He informed his guests that he would be occupied for a few hours. He told Gwen he had a mountain of paperwork to do.

But when no one was looking, he went to the stables and had the stable boy saddle his horse, ordering him not to tell anyone he was leaving.

He wasn't sure where to go. But he had to start somewhere.

He rode through the forests, even checked the bog where he'd found Merlin when he'd been presumed dead. Eventually, he became desperate enough to search the Valley of the Fallen Kings.

But before he got there, he ran into a scared-looking boy stumbling through the trees. When he saw the king, his eyes widened.

"You there!" Arthur called. "Have you seen a man around, by any chance? Tallish, clumsy, dark hair?"

The boy bit his lip, and then looked around. Arthur wondered if someone was following him.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. Arthur's stomach twisted as he was flooded was fear. He was right, something had happened to Merlin. What had the idiot gotten himself into this time?

"What happened?" he demanded. "What's your name?"

The stranger swallowed. "My name is Daegal. And...I don't know if your friend is still alive."

_He has to be!_ Arthur wanted to scream.

"I'm really sorry," Daegal continued, and he really looked sad. "Morgana paid me to...I didn't want to, but she would have killed me..."

"What happened?" Arthur repeated, and was amazed at how steady his voice was when his mind was in turmoil.

"She...she made me lure him out of the castle by saying my sister was sick, telling him I needed his help. I lead him to the Valley of the Fallen Kings. And then...I'm sorry, but I'm sure Morgana picked a strong poison. She said he'd be 'glad when death came.'"

Daegal's words had barely left his mouth before the king's horse turned and ran flat-out towards the Valley. The king was really starting to hate that place.

When he got there, he leapt off his horse and searched frantically for his manservant, praying he would find him alive. He couldn't bear to think of the other possibility.

And then suddenly, there was Merlin, laying in the bottom of a ravine.

Arthur's breath caught. Merlin appeared to be unconscious(at least, he hoped that was all it was), something the king was grateful for, for he could only imagine what Merlin would be feeling otherwise. His paleness reminded the king forcefully of the dorocha, and the time his servant had nearly died, which didn't help his level of panic.

Merlin was still. Too still.

"Merlin," Arthur breathed as he descended the ravine and knelt next to his motionless manservant. Hands shaking slightly, afraid of what he was going to find, he put his fingers to Merlin's neck, trying to ignore the trail of spittle coming from Merlin's mouth.

At first, there was nothing, and Arthur stared down for what seemed a year at his servant's unnaturally pale face. And then, a weak pulse fluttered under the king's skin. Arthur felt almost light-headed with relief.

"Come on, Merlin, wake up," he muttered, shaking the boy slightly. He was no physician, and he didn't know if Merlin would make the journey back. He only hoped his servant would be able to tell him how to cure him.

Finally, the warlock's eyes flitted open, though they were glazed over with pain. Arthur felt his heart clench, but he needed Merlin conscious.

His servant became aware enough to recognize him. "Arthur?" he said in a faint, raspy voice.

"Yes, Merlin, it's me. Tell me how to cure you," the king said urgently.

And of course, instead of telling him, the idiot said, "No, Arthur - leave...Morgana...might come back..."

"Shut up, you idiot," Arthur said forcefully. "Tell me the cure!"

"There's nothing you can do!" Merlin rasped harshly. He might as well have stabbed Arthur in the chest. The words left him numb, but he was not about to give up yet.

"There must be something. Anything." The king was vaguely aware of the pleading tone in his voice. "Come on, Merlin, think!"

The servant was silent a moment, no sound coming from him except his pained breaths.

"Rue," he said finally. "Ground into a tincture." He gave Arthur a brief description of the plant.

As Arthur rushed away to find it, he heard a weak "And hurry."

He did not need to be told twice.

0o0

When Arthur returned with the treatment, Merlin was unconscious again. Shaking him awake a second time, Arthur could see his servant was fading fast.

"Here," he said, holding the liquid to Merlin's mouth. The servant drank, but Arthur couldn't help feeling jittery with nerves. What if he'd gotten the wrong plant?

He held out his water skin for Merlin to drink, but it was pushed away. Instead, the servant took his hand and rested it on his shoulder, gripping it tightly.

Arthur understood why a moment later.

Merlin's body convulsed. It was painful to watch as his body shook with violent spasms. With each one, the servant's face tightened with an agony the king could only imagine. Arthur had no idea whether this was supposed to happen or not, he just hoped it would be over soon.

And then it stopped. Merlin's hand fell limp at his side, and his head lolled weakly. He moved no more.

"Merlin?" Arthur realized his voice had gone up slightly. "Merlin?!" he repeated with more urgency.

But his servant just lay there, limp as a rag doll, his eyes closed, pale as death.

Arthur had no idea how long he sat there. No idea how long he watched Merlin's lifeless body. He could only hope that his servant, who was really his best friend, would eventually open his eyes.

When they did, Arthur thought he had never felt so relieved.


	13. 2x09

**AN: Merlin is over. Therefore, it is not mine. **

**Here's another requested chapter. I may not be doing these in the order they were requested in. If any of you requested an episode but I haven't written it yet, it's because I haven't seen the episode in a while and I'll probably get some things wrong. (This is mainly true for 3x09). Sorry about that and I will get around to watching it ASAP, but I have to share my TV and my Netflix :P**

_Chapter 13: 2x09, The Lady of the Lake. First scene is right before Merlin is trying to leave with Freya, second is the morning after she dies. _

Merlin was ecstatic.

He had never recalled feeling this way in his life. Just being around Freya made all his problems seem to vanish. He did not have to pretend around her, did not have to carry on the charade of being the idiot. Arthur was his friend, but Merlin was beginning to doubt he would ever open up to the idea of sorcery being used for good. And he didn't want to have to put up with it anymore.

He paused in his preparations. Arthur was still his friend. He couldn't just up and leave without any explanation. What if Arthur sent out some one to find him? What if he was presumed dead?

He couldn't tell Arthur face to face, the prince would probably try to stop him. He found a spare piece of parchment and a quill sitting on Gaius's workbench and hastily scrawled a note.

_Arthur - _  
_I'm not going to be there to wake you up tomorrow. I'm leaving Camelot. Nothing personal, I just met a girl who I fully admit to loving. She doesn't want to stay here, and I'm going with her. I will miss calling you a clotpole every morning (but not so much having a goblet thrown at my head). Good luck with your princely endeavors, whatever they may be. Someday you might actually make a decent king. Even if you have to put up with bootlicking servants. _  
_I might come back some time and visit Gaius. See you then, maybe? _  
_p.s. I stole your food because she's poor and can't afford much. Sorry not sorry. _  
_Merlin._

He stuck his head out of the door and waved down a passing servant.

"Could you deliver this to the prince for me?"

0o0

Arthur woke to the next morning to the usual obnoxious voice of his manservant. He grumbled and burrowed deeper into his warm sheets. Then he remembered.

The prince suddenly sat up straight in bed, startling Merlin.

"You were leaving!" Arthur accused, and he didn't quite manage to hide the hurt in his voice.

"Was," Merlin said, not meeting the prince's questioning gaze. "Not anymore."

"Why? Did she leave you?" Arthur said unsympathetically. Merlin had been ready to leave his duties for a girl. He wouldn't dream of telling Merlin this, of course, but he had been disappointed, and actually fairly sad, that he wouldn't have his annoyingly cheerful servant who had become his closest friend around anymore.

A pause, and then a mumbled. "You could say that."

"Yeah, women tend to do that," the prince said. "Don't worry about it. There's plenty of others. I'm sure you'll find another."

Merlin finally looked him in the eye, and Arthur was surprised to see how deep the pain was in them. "If you could, would you leave with Gwen?"

Arthur stared at him.

"That serious, huh?" His voice had suddenly become much more serious.

Merlin looked down again, and for the first time Arthur started to notice something was off. Whatever happened had greatly affected his servant.

"Merlin," he said, slightly more gently, "what happened?"

"Doesn't matter," Merlin mumbled. But the prince could see that it mattered a lot, at least to Merlin.

"No, Merlin, tell me. Or else stop moping."

His servant glared at him, and for a moment Arthur thought he was actually going to get angry. But then Merlin spoke in a quiet voice.

"Freya died before we could leave."

Merlin was standing at the wardrobe, not facing Arthur. If he had, he would have seen the shock on his master's face.

_"Did she leave you?"_

_"You could say that."_

"What happened?" Arthur repeated, and realized he was speaking in a hushed tone. He cleared his throat loudly and asked "How?"

A pause. Arthur wondered if his servant was getting sick of his prying. But then he spoke again.

"She...was out collecting herbs and things for our journey. She got lost in the forest and was ambushed. She made it back to in time to see me one more time, but her injuries killed her soon after that."

Arthur couldn't help but imagine Freya being Gwen, and rage hit him full force.

"Merlin, I swear we'll find whoever attacked her and bring them to justice."

His servant turned to look at him, and for a moment Arthur thought he saw an expression on his face that he could only describe as ironic. But then it was gone, and Merlin mumbled "Thanks, but she has no idea who attacked her. Bandits, probably, but there's lots of those."

The prince's eyes narrowed. Merlin didn't seem very angry at whoever had killed his love. He fought the urge to sigh in exasperation. Was Merlin capable of anger at all?

"Still. I'll send out a patrol. We might be able to find them."

He was rewarded by a warm, genuine smile from his servant.

"Thanks, Arthur." At least the prat was trying.

He looked into Arthur's eyes, which were burning with protective anger towards the man who had killed Freya, and vowed never to tell the prince who really killed her.


	14. 5x12

**AN: Merlin, as well as many other things, is not mine. **

**Super short, I know, and it hasn't been requested. But I haven't had time between real life and my other stories to write a new chapter. So this is a pre-written one. Sorry. I'll get around to doing the requests eventually. **

_Chapter 14: 5x12, The Diamond of the Day pt. 1. Set when Gwaine is taking Merlin to the Crystal Cave. _

"Thanks, Gwaine," Merlin muttered to his friend. "We're here. I should be fine now."

The knight frowned, remembering the attack they'd just had a few minutes ago. "Are you sure? There could be more bandits."

"I'll be fine," Merlin repeated, more urgently. "Really, Gwaine. Thanks for your help."

The drunk frowned, completely disregarding the servant's dismissal. "What makes you so sure? How about I wait for you."

"No, Arthur needs you," Merlin insisted.

Gwaine eyed him suspiciously.

"Please, Gwaine."

Merlin knew as soon as he said it that his plea would only make his friend more stubborn.

"Why is it so important? Don't want me around?"

"No, it's not that," Merlin said quickly. "It's just...something I have to do by myself."

The knight looked like he was about to give in. But before he left, he spoke up again.

"You know you can tell me anything, right Merlin?"

The warlock hesitated. He was about to give one of his standard excuses, reject Gwaine's offer, but something stopped him.

They were about to go into battle. Arthur already thought he was a coward. What if he never saw Gwaine again, and he never told one of his closest friends his secret?

He'd been under so much stress lately, and he'd had to keep it all inside. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to tell someone. And he had a feeling he could trust Gwaine.

"Alright," he relented, "it's going to sound mad, but I'll tell you. Just don't think I'm crazy."

He told Gwaine the basics: how he was born with magic, how he'd been using it to protect Arthur, and how Morgana had taken it from him. How if he didn't get it back, he would be unable to save Arthur.

When he finished his story, he stood there nervously, waiting for Gwaine's reaction.

The knight just stood there with a shocked expression. Then he burst out laughing.

"This makes so much sense! This is brilliant!"

Merlin felt as though a huge weight had lifted from him. "You're not mad?"

"'Course not," Gwaine told him, grinning. "I know you'd never do anything bad with it. Say, when this battle's over, I could really use your help. I've been trying to come up with the perfect prank to play on Percy-"

"No," Merlin cut him off, looking amused. "I told you before, I'm staying out of it."

Gwaine gave an exaggerated sigh of disappointment. "Ah, well. It was worth a try."

He looked in the direction Merlin had indicated. "So once you've gone to this cave place, you'll have your magic back?"

"Hopefully," Merlin replied.

Gwaine clapped him on the back. "Good luck, mate."

Merlin grinned, the first real, genuine smile in a while. "Thanks, Gwaine. For everything."


	15. 3x02

**AN: Fun fact of the day: I don't own Merlin. **

**I am a bad person. **

**I spent the last few days writing a few oneshots instead of writing for this. As a result, I now have to post another pre-written chapter. But I promise I am getting around to your requests! **

"What happened?"

Merlin surveyed Arthur's chambers incredulously. He had only been gone a day, how had things gotten so messy?

The prince looked up from his bed blearily, scowling when he saw who it was.

"What happened? I had to make do without a servant is what happened," he said grumpily.

"I wasn't gone that long," Merlin insisted, bending down to pick something up.

"Without my permission," Arthur retorted.

"What if I was dying?" Merlin inquired.

"I wouldn't be complaining," the prince sniped. "But you're not, so where've you been?"

Merlin straightened up, then remembered out loud, "I _was_ dying."

"Oh really," Arthur replied scathingly. "What, did you fall on my sword while you were polishing it at the last minute?"

Merlin just shook his head at the royal, but, figuring he wouldn't believe him(he never did), he continued with his story.

"Yeah," he said conversationally. "Last night I eavesdropped on two witches plotting to take over Camelot in the forest, but they caught me."

Arthur, thinking his servant was making up some ridiculous story, played along, letting his irritation seep through his tone. "I see. Well, meanwhile, I'm stuck here, only running the kingdom, and having its future rest on my shoulders."

"Oh, I know," Merlin conceded. "I would've come back to help you, but the witches bound me in chains and left me for the serkets. Not pleasant creatures, I can tell you. I'm lucky I only got stung once."  
Arthur rolled his eyes. Merlin wasn't even trying to come up with a good excuse.

"Nice try, Merlin," he said, "But even if the rest of it had been believable, you ruined it by claiming to get stung by a serket. You would dying slowly and painfully if that were the case."

"That would be true," Merlin replied, "but luckily I was found and treated. They made me sleep for a while, which is why I wasn't able to return sooner." In fact, if Kilgarrah had his way, the warlock would still be resting off the effects of the venom. Even now, the slight burning sensation that pulsed through him with sudden movements told Merlin that he wasn't completely healed.

Arthur appeared to be done. "That's a fascinating story, Merlin, but if you don't mind, I've got a kingdom to run. I know it's difficult for you to comprehend, Merlin, but I am in charge of the entire of Camelot, and, unlike you, I cannot get off on being lazy and incompetent."

With that, the prince snatched up the meager breakfast his servant had hastily put together and began eating it quickly while Merlin continued cleaning his chambers.

However annoyed the royal was, however, it did not escape his notice that Merlin winced slightly when he bent down. He disregarded it quickly, thinking his servant's clumsiness had gained him a few bruises, but then Merlin pushed his shirt sleeve up his arms to reach for some clothes under the wardrobe, and Arthur caught sight of chain-shaped bruises encircling his pale limb.

The prince frowned. Merlin's story had been complete rubbish...right?

He began watching his servant more closely. Merlin was going about cleaning as usual, but every now and then Arthur saw a slight wince with some of his movements, so small that Arthur would not normally have noticed them, but they were definitely there. And when he scratched his arm absentmindedly, the prince caught sight of more bruises on his other arm, in the exact same shape and place.

He spoke up, careful to keep his voice light. "So, getting stung by a serket...where were you stung, exactly?"

Merlin, thinking Arthur was just making fun of him some more, replied with "up on my back."

Arthur stood and slowly inched closer. Merlin was still intent on picking up the mess on the floor. When the servant was distracted, Arthur leaned forward, grabbed a fistful of Merlin's shirt, and pulled up.

The servant yelped in surprise and confusion, but Arthur hardly noticed. He was too focused on the oval indentation on Merlin's back.

It was a serket sting. Nothing else could leave a mark that big, and it was still tinged slightly black with residual venom. Inflamed skin around the wound indicated it was fairly recent.

Merlin had been telling the truth.

Stunned blue eyes met resigned ones as Merlin realized the prince had seen the wound.

"Merlin...what is that?" Arthur said slowly, even though he knew full well what it was.

"It's..." Merlin struggled to find an explanation. "I...fell on your sword while polishing it at the last minute?"

Arthur would have rolled his eyes if he had been able to tear his gaze from the mark on his servant's back.

"You were telling the truth," he breathed, disregarding the weak excuse.

"I do that quite a lot," Merlin grumbled, "yet people are always surprised."

His joking tone he had adopted while there was an indentation from a stab from a serket stinger on his back was grating on Arthur's nerves. Though he would never admit it, he did care about his servant. He treated Arthur like a person, not a prince, and he was a true friend - not some bootlicker pretending to like him. Add that to his strangely large amount of loyalty to the prince, and Arthur couldn't help but grow fond of him, despite the constant insults.

Unfortunately for Arthur, this friendship came with the price of actually caring when Merlin was hurt. Like now.

Trying not to let much of his concern show when in fact he felt swamped in it, he pulled Merlin to his feet.

"Go see Gaius," the prince said firmly.

"What? No, I'm fine," the servant insisted, yanking his arm out of Arthur's grasp, in response to which the royal snorted.

"Merlin, if you've been telling the truth, I have no idea how you're not dead right now, but you're clearly not completely healed. D'you think I haven't noticed you wincing ll the time?"

The servant actually looked fairly impressed. "Well, what do you know? Prince Prat isn't as oblivious as usual."

Trying to ignore the implications of this statement - that something like this had happened before and gone completely unnoticed - Arthur glared at his servant. "Shut up, Merlin, and do as I say."

"You're forgetting the rest of my story," Merlin said. "There are two sorceresses planning to take over Camelot. Don't you think that warrants a little more attention?"

Arthur hesitated. "If you're lying-"

"I'm not!" Merlin insisted indignantly, but Arthur had reluctantly already concluded the same. After all, he'd thought Merlin had been lying with Cedric and the troll, and that had come back to bite him in the backside.

"Alright," Arthur relented. "Let's get you to Gaius. Can't have you dying on me in the middle of telling me important information relevant to the safety of Camelot, can we?"


	16. 5x09

**AN: Merlin? Mine? HAHAHAHAHA no. **

**I could bore you with excuses, but needless to say I am back now. Annnd, well, I feel bad because I'm not doing the requests in the order they were made. Instead, I'm doing them in the order of which episodes I get the most inspiration for. **

**I'm sorry, everyone! I will not forget your requests!**

**(Yeah, yeah, I know I've been saying that for a while). **

Arthur, Gwen, and Mordred began walking back without so much as a second glance. Merlin, still disguised as the Dolma, blinked. Did they?...No, they didn't...

Had they?

They had.

"Aren't you forgetting something?" he called irritably.

The king turned back and frowned. He checked his belt for his sword, then looked around.

"No, I don't think so."

"Are you sure?" The warlock/witch pressed.

"Yeah," Arthur replied, looking confused.

Merlin gritted his teeth. Fine. If they wanted to forget him, AGAIN, let them go ahead. Then he could return to Camelot without having to deal with the lot of them.

"Very well. Leave, if you're so sure."

Utterly bewildered, Arthur complied.

It was Gwen who finally remembered after about half an hour of troubled trekking. She gave a sudden gasp that made Arthur jump.

"Guinevere! What is it?" he said urgently.

She turned to him, shock and guilt shining in her eyes.

"We did forget something," she said tremulously. "Or rather, someone."

Mordred's eyes widened in realization, but Arthur still looked blank.

"Merlin!" she said, exasperated somewhat disappointed at her husband. She, who was still slightly disoriented from her sudden freeing from Morgana's enchantment, had been the one to remember her husband's servant. She winced as she imagined Merlin's expression when he realized...

Arthur stiffened. "Why didn't that old woman say anything?" he exclaimed, turning back the way they came. What if she wouldn't give Merlin back because of his carelessness? His pace quickened, guilt filling him. How could he be so stupid? Merlin would never forget about him...

He turned around a sharp bend and almost ran into the man he was thinking about.

"Merlin!" he exclaimed in surprise.

The dark-haired man raised an eyebrow. "Remembered, did you?"

Arthur tried not wince at his empty voice. It was the Merlin equivalent of coldness. He cleared his throat awkwardly.

"Yes...well...I was a bit preoccupied," he said, somewhat defensively, though without much conviction.

Merlin's eyes slipped past the king and landed on Gwen, who was looking at him guiltily. But it wasn't fake guilt, constructed for the deception of others. He smiled warmly.

"Gwen," he greeted.

She smiled tentatively in return, and held out her arms for a hug. The queen embraced the servant who, unknown to everyone but Mordred, who Merlin knew had figured it out, had saved her mind from Morgana's rule.

"I'm so sorry," she said quietly. "Of everything I did while..."

"You remember?" Merlin said, surprised.

The queen bit her lip. "Sort of. It' like remembering something somebody else did." Her eyes suddenly became wet. "Oh, Merlin, I'm so sorry! I lied about you being missing, I told them you were off with a girl-"

"Gwen." Merlin's voice was firm. "It was not. Your. Fault. Don't go blaming yourself for Morgana controlling you."

Gwen, still staring at the servant guiltily, missed the stunned look on her husband's face.

"If anything had happened to you, I would never have forgiven myself. And you," she turned to the king, "I poisoned you! I did it, and blamed it on others. It was me, Arthur, it was all me, Merlin and Tyr were innocent-"

"Guinevere," Arthur said softly, gripping her shoulders gently, "nobody blames you. Anything you did can be blamed on Morgana."

She pursed her lips, still looking slightly guilty, but their words seemed to reassure her.  
"I myself have seen proof of Morgana's power," Mordred added grimly. "Trust me, my lady, there was nothing you could have done."

Arthur sent the knight a grateful look.

But when they carried on walking back to towards Camelot, Arthur hung back so he was only in Merlin's earshot.

"Merlin..." he began awkwardly. "I'm sorry. I really am."

The servant rolled his eyes, but his irritation was already fading. "Don't worry about it."

Arthur, looking relieved, took that as a cue to change the subject.

"What did she mean, 'I told them you were off with a girl'?"

Almost imperceptibly, Merlin stiffened, but the king didn't miss it. He was determined never to miss anything again.

"I wasn't with a girl that day I was gone," he said.

"I'd gathered that much," Arthur muttered.

The servant sent him a sideways look, carefully considering what to tell his master.

"She and Morgana...set up a trap for me. To keep me out of the way when they tried to have you assassinated. They seemed to think I would stop them."

His lips quirked upward slightly in a smug smile, remembering that he and Daegal had done just that, but it quickly dropped as he remembered the price for Arthur's survival.

"What sort of trap?" Arthur asked calmly, but he felt his stomach clench. Merlin had been limping when he returned. Had he been hurt and Arthur hadn't even noticed?

"Let's just say it, ah, effectively kept me from helping you. But the boy who died, he was a part of the trap, but he took pity on me and helped me escape. He told me they were planning to have you killed during the treaty signing, and we managed to make it back in time to stop the assasin. But you knew that part."

Arthur was silent. Merlin's story had a rehearsed sound to it. He felt a prickle of annoyance. Hadn't he been deceived enough?

"Merlin, I want to hear the full story. Don't try to get out of it," he added, as the servant opened his mouth, no doubt to protest. He glanced back at his queen, then said, even more quietly, "But not while Guinevere's around."

Merlin looked like he at least agreed on that.

"Fine," he said finally, thinking privately and somewhat bitterly that Arthur would probably forget about it...again.

"And Merlin?"

He glanced back. Arthur was staring at him intensely.

"I won't forget."

_Not again._

**Yay! End of another chapter. Below is a little rant about a moment in this episode that I put down here instead of up there so as not to bore those who don't want to read it: **

**Okay. Was ANYONE else really freaking PISSED at Merlin at this episode when he said "Why did I promise to help Gwen?" (Me at this point: "Oh, I dunno, BECAUSE ARTHUR IS NOT YOUR ONLY FRIEND?) Seriously, it seemed like he was only disappointed he couldn't help Gwen because it would make Arthur sad. THIS IS NOT THE MERLIN I LOVE! Gwen was his first friend, and now he almost refused to get her back! I mean, I know you're worried about Arthur, but don't just let go of your other friends! Gwen would never do that to him! **

**Okay, end of rant. **


	17. 2x13

**AN: Nope, loving Merlin is not the same as owning it. **

**This episode was one of the most requested, along with 5x10(which I plan to do soon!) **

_Chapter 17: 2x13, The Last Dragonlord. Set when towards the end when Arthur and Merlin are about to fight Kilgarrah._

"Merlin, if I die, please!..."

"What?"

Arthur turned to look at his servant, who had just finished putting on his armor, and his tone became less joking and more serious.

"I saw you. With the dragonlord."

Merlin's face became instantly guarded.

"I'm going to tell you something I tell all my young knights," the prince continued, resting his hand on his servant's shoulder. "No man is worth your tears."

No man is worth you tears? For a moment, Merlin wanted to throw back a response, that he would like to see what Arthur would do if his father were to die in his arms. But, as he had done many times before, he covered up his irritation with a joke.

"Yeah," he said, somewhat hoarsely, "you're certainly not!" He flashed a smile at Arthur in hopes that that would be enough for the prince.

Arthur watched as he walked over to the table where his sword was. He felt a few familiar pangs of curiosity at the entity known as Merlin. He'd seen his servant stare down death and return the next day with a smile on his face. He'd seen him face the destruction of his childhood home and, though it pained him, he fought with admirable determination, and hardly shed a tear for his lost childhood friend.

But yet, when a near-stranger died while trying to help him, he'd wept over his body, and then tried to hide it from his master. Arthur had felt horrible himself, seeing Camelot's last hope die. But he certainly hadn't _cried_.

Maybe it was just that Merlin was weird that way. His servant had many strange quirks and way of thinking that were foreign to Arthur. Sometimes, he seemed almost normal, but then he would surprise the prince with a sudden burst of...strangeness.

Normally, Arthur would just shake his head and laugh, thinking maybe, one day, he might understand. But by nightfall he would have faced the dragon and would probably be dead. This might be his last chance to get some insight.

"Why were you so upset, anyway?" he asked. "You hardly knew him."

Merlin looked down. "I know," he murmured. "That made it even worse."

Well, that was clear as mud. "What do you mean?" Apparently, asking Merlin for answers only brought on more questions.

His servant shook his head. "Doesn't matter," he mumbled.

Arthur resisted the temptation to roll his eyes. "Come on, Merlin. I saw you. You cried for him." And this time, instead of saying it jokingly and calling his servant a girl, he watched closely for a reaction.

Merlin stared at the prince, trying to gauge how shallow a lie his master would swallow.

"I was...sad that Camelot would fall without him," he said finally.

Arthur narrowed his eyes, and the warlock groaned internally. NOW Arthur chose to pay attention!

"It was more than that, wasn't it?" the prince said slowly.

Merlin's heart rate picked up slightly as it always did when he was under pressure to lie. "No," he said, a little to quickly, and winced. He was so used to not having to put too much effort into lying to the royal, because he was so oblivious, that he was becoming careless now.

It seemed that, on the few occasions he was able to do so, Arthur could detect a lie of Merlin's, he was determined to get to the truth. Or maybe it was that they were about to die - or so the prince thought.

"Merlin, you're a terrible liar," he said. "Why won't you tell me?" He spread his arms with a wry smile. "I'm a dead man by tonight anyway."

To his surprise, Merlin returned the small smile. "Oh, I wouldn't be so sure."

Arthur made a sound of exasperation. He couldn't tell if Merlin was doing it on purpose, but he was being extremely irritating with his cryptic answers.

"Why can't you ever just make sense?" he grumbled. Merlin laughed. "I must have picked it up from a - well, someone he used to be a friend," he said darkly.

Arthur snorted, then walked over and sat down next to his servant turned best friend.

"You still haven't answered my question," he said softly.

Once again, Merlin averted his eyes, his expression carefully schooled. "I told you, it's nothing. I was just - overwhelmed."

"Merlin, you can't expect me to believe that."

"Really, Arthur-"

"Merlin. Tell me."

"It's no big deal, I was just-"

"Don't you trust me?"

"Yes, but-"

_"Merlin."_

"HE WAS MY FATHER! Happy?!"

There was a silence, in which Arthur stared in shock and Merlin, realizing what he had just said, slapped a hand over his mouth, eyes wide.

Arthur hadn't known what he expected. He wasn't even sure his constant badgering would work.

But he definitely hadn't expected this.

He stared at his servant, an incredulous retort about how that was insane, that couldn't be true, but it died down as he took in both Merlin's terrified expression at his slip-up and the pain that the truth of the statement had caused to resurface.

"_What_?"

His tone was strangely hushed.

"Nothing," Merlin said wildly. "Forget I said anything. I'm tired, I-"

"Merlin," Arthur said gently, breaking off his servant's panicked blabbering.

Merlin lowered his eyes. "Please, just forget I said anything," he whispered.

"No."

The servant's eyes snapped up, and Arthur, seeing the fear in them, quickly backtracked though unsure as to why his friend hadn't just said that in the first place.

"He was your father, Merlin. You shouldn't just forget him."

Merlin let out a shaky, mirthless laugh.

"Your father probably wouldn't agree."

_Oh_.

So that was why Merlin was afraid to say anything. Arthur realized, a bit uncomfortably, that he probably had good reason to. He knew his father disapproved at the fact that Merlin showed a blatant disregard for authority and would jump at the chance to get rid of him.

"I won't say anything to him."

If possible, Merlin's eyes widened further. "Seriously?"

"Seriously." Arthur chuckled at the astonished and grateful expression on his servant's face. "I can't say I like lying to my father, but I agree he would not agree that you should go unpunished."

Merlin nodded, but seemed to be refraining from saying anything rude about Uther when Arthur had promised not to tell him.

"So...you really had just met him."

Merlin sighed. "Yes. He was forced to run away from Ealdor before I was born because Uther was after him. He spent the rest of his time living in that cave. Gaius decided it was a good idea to tell me right before we left to find him."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. If that were true, it was amazing that Merlin had kept it together this long.

"I'm sorry," he said finally.

Merlin gave him a small smile, a genuine one this time. "Thanks."

They sat in awkward but somehow comfortable silence for a few moments. Despite the looming threat of the dragon, Merlin felt light. One of his secrets was out. He had actually been able to confide in Arthur for once.

"I don't know if I can stop the dragon," Merlin said quietly, looking down at his hands, "but I swear, I will try whatever I can."

Arthur stared. "Wait - you're a...?"

Merlin looked up, unsure. "The ability is passed onto the son with the death of the father. But I didn't have him to teach me. I'm going to have to just wing it."

Arthur blinked. Merlin...was a dragonlord. It was a strange concept.

"Well, then," he said lightly. "No use putting it off any longer."

He stood and went for the door, sword in hand. After a moment's hesitation, Merlin followed him.


	18. 5x10

**AN: Yeah, no, me no own. **

**This was one of the most requested, so I did it, but I'm not sure how well it turned out. Anyway, I hope you like!**

It would be nice, just once, for things to go to plan. But apparently, that would not happen today. He had just arrived to his meeting place with Finna, and they'd barely said anything before a bunch of hired goons flew at them from the trees.

A flash of gold, and they went flying, so that was that taken care of. But unfortunately, he was unable to stop the arrow from sinking into his stomach.

He stared at Finna. Finna stared at him. And then, slowly, he sank to his knees.

"Master," she whispered, and he felt sturdy hands supporting him, stopping him from collapsing completely.

"Quickly. We need to get out of here. I know a watch tower where we'll be safe."

He thought about replying, but the burning spike of pain in his gut stopped him.

Leaning heavily on his companion, he stood shakily, and together they walked as quickly as they could through the forest. There was silence except for Merlin's pained gasps, which he tried to stifle, but it wasn't easy.

When they'd been traveling for a few minutes, Finna looked behind them. "I think we're far enough ahead. Here, rest. I need to remove the arrow."

This was the part Merlin had been dreading. Nodding curtly, he sat down on the cold ground.

A twig snapped.

Two heads snapped in the direction of the sound, wound momentarily forgotten. The adrenalin, which had started to wear off some, came back suddenly.

"We're being followed," Finna whispered. She stood protectively in front of Merlin, to which the warlock put a hand up and tried to stand as well, but ended up falling back with a short grunt of pain.

"Merlin!"

The warlock froze. He recognized that voice...

A small group a people broke away from the shadows, apparently giving up on their stealth, having caught sight of the person who was injured. The night shimmered silver, showing that they were wearing chainmail.

"Arthur?"

His voice was hoarse with pain, but it could be heard clearly.

The king knelt down in front of his servant, eyes on the bolt sticking out of his side.

"Merlin...what on Earth have you gotten yourself into?"

Merlin couldn't help but give a weak laugh. If Arthur thought this was bad, he would freak out if he knew all the other trouble that happened to him.

"I was just about to remove it," Finna said hesitantly.

Arthur gave her a wary look, apparently wondering if she could be trusted. The rest of the knights, however, were focused on Merlin.

The warlock's eyes flicked upward and met Mordred's.

"I'm sorry," he druid said quickly. "They noticed you were missing."

"Yes, and lucky we did," Gwaine said grimly.

"Merlin, I am not even going to mention how incredibly STUPID, even for you, it was to wander off and do...whatever the hell it was you were doing when there was a sorcerer on the loose, at least not until we get this thing out of you," Arthur said, more snappish than usual due to the worry he felt but would not admit.

"Oh joy, something to look forward to," Merlin mumbled.

"Shut up, idiot," even though the retort calmed all of their nerves. As long as Merlin could still make jokes, he would be alright...at least, it felt that way.

"I'm sorry, Merlin, but this is going to hurt," the king said quietly. He was dreading this as much as his servant.

Gripping the shaft and, trying not to imagine his friend's face when he pulled it out, or the fact that his blood would most likely quite literally be on his hands, he yanked.

Merlin was instantly gripped by more claws of pain, and bit down so hard on his tongue to stop from screaming that he tasted blood.

Arthur forced himself not to wince at the way Merlin's face immediately contorted in agony and a hissing gasp issued from between his clenched teeth. "Sorry," he muttered.

"No, it's fine." Merlin took a deep breath and slowly slumped back as the sudden tension left him. "I'll be fine," he repeated.

This time, Arthur didn't bother stopping himself from rolling his eyes. "Like hell you're fine."

He looked at Finna. "You said you can take us to a hiding place."

"Yes, my Lord," she said quickly.

The king took a moment to consider. He had no idea who she was, for all he knew she was leading them into a trap.

But if they didn't they would likely be caught anyway. And Merlin would die without help.

"Alright," he agreed. "Show us the way."

Walking was clearly painful for Merlin, but he grit his teeth and stubbornly refused to stop until they reached the tower. This proved to be useful, because no sooner had they begun to walk up the spiraling staircase did they hear the fast approaching feet of another group of people.

"Morgana," Finna said fearfully.

Arthur's pulse quickened. If Morgana was after them, they were in trouble.

"My Lord."

Finna had turned to the king when they finished their slow and painful journey to the top (Merlin had passed out). Arm outstretched, she showed the tattoos that marked her as a member of the Old Religion.

"I am the only one who really has a chance at holding Morgana off. You take Merlin back to Camelot, along with the rest. I will buy you time."

Arthur's heart was pounding. He couldn't help hearing his father's voice in his head: This is magic. It cannot be trusted.

But this woman had just saved their lives, and, quite honestly, he didn't care about that now. Merlin was dying. A sentence he never, ever wanted to think or hear. If saving his servant meant taking risks, he would gladly take them.

He nodded in acknowledgement.

"Thank you."

He indicated for the knights to follow him. Quietly, Percival carrying Merlin, they made their way back down the other side, ears strained for the telltale signs of a fight.

Arthur didn't even come close to relaxing until they left the forest. The whole time he kept his eyes on the distant towers and turrets that meant they were getting closer to help, because he was painfully aware of Merlin's life leaking out of him.

Gaius would not appreciate being woken in the middle of the night, nor finding out that Arthur had let him slip away and get shot. But facing the old physician's ire was a small price to pay for Merlin's survival.


	19. 5x07

**AN: Let me check. Nope, still don't own Merlin. **

_Chapter 19: 5x07, A Lesson in Vengeance. Takes place after Arthur has been poisoned, when Gwen blames Merlin_

Gwen stared purposefully around the room, all the while keeping a stoic mask of fake despair on her face. Her voice was sure and commanding, full of certainty as she spoke to those in the king's chambers.

"There is only one person who had the opportunity to do this," she said dramatically, her voice laced with false resignation. She turned to stare pointedly at the raven-haired man standing in the corner.

Merlin did not look surprised. Instead, he met her intense stare with his own, and in a single second, communicated to the enchanted queen that he knew. He knew he was being framed, and who he was being framed by.

The knights, however, looked bewildered.

"Who?" Gwaine asked. Merlin almost smirked. She may be able to toss him around like the servant he was, but she would have a harder time getting the knights to play along to her little game.

Irritation flashed across Gwen's features, but she swiftly covered it up, and Merlin was sure he was the only one to notice it. "As much as it pains me, Merlin is the personal servant to the king, and has access to all of his meals," the queen explained, her voice dripping with overdone regret.

The knights shared a look of incredulity. "My Lady, with all due respect, surely you aren't suggesting it was Merlin who poisoned the king?" Leon replied quizzically. It was probably best that he had spoken up, because Gwaine looked ready to retort with something much less polite.

Merlin could see that Gwen was becoming impatient, but trying to hide it. "I don't like it, but it makes sense. He had the most opportunity."

Gwaine's eyebrow started competing with Gaius's. "Makes sense? Of course it doesn't make sense. Merlin's no more likely to poison Arthur than you are!"

Leon sent the alcoholic a warning look, and Percival put a hand on his friend's shoulder to calm him. Gwen took the opportunity to shoot another glare at Merlin, who gave a faint smirk in reply at Gwaine's ironically accurate response.

"My Lady, I understand how you must be feeling, but surely we should still explore all options?"

"More reasonable options," Percival added, glancing at Merlin. The servant couldn't help but smile. It was times like this, when he realized he really had good friends, when he was able to stave off his constant loneliness.

He was sure Gwen was going to snap soon. The knights were clearly unwilling to arrest Merlin.

"I understand your hesitance," she said in a placating voice, "but it is merely a precaution. Just in case we are unable to find another explanation." It was clear in her tone that she didn't expect them to find another.

"But there is no reason to put an innocent man in the dungeons," Percival argued. "Wouldn't it be better to keep them open for the real culprit?"

"Merlin might even be able to help us with the investigation," Leon suggested.

Merlin hardly had to wait a moment before Gwen snapped, as he had expected.

"Thank you all for you input," she said coldly. "But I am the queen and I am ordering that you take Merlin to the dungeons."

The knights stared, and the queen quickly tried to recompose herself.

"It's alright." Merlin finally spoke quietly from his corner. "If it makes the queen feel better, I will spend the night in the dungeons." They were easy to break out of, anyways.

Gwaine stared at his friend incredulously. "Merlin, mate, this is crazy! She's actually suggesting you had something to with-"

"Sir Gwaine!" Leon snapped, automatically shifting into his subservient knight mode.

"I understand what she is saying," Merlin replied. "But she will be expected to do something. I can manage."

Gwen's eyes widened, then narrowed in suspicion, wondering why Merlin was cooperating. Merlin held her gaze. She was still new to this. He, however, had already had practice with Morgana and Agravaine.

"But-"

"You heard me, Gwaine," Merlin said, eyes still locked on the queen.

He could tell they were reluctant, but the knights exchanged glances and then proceeded to lead Merlin down to the dungeons.

But before they left, Merlin turned his head to give Gwen one last look, and in that moment, their eyes locked, and they gave each other a silent challenge. Perhaps she thought she came off as intimidating, but he had done this before. He would do whatever it took to protect Arthur.

Once again, the game was on.

**So I know I still have a few requests to do, and I will get around to doing them. But these are some of my ideas for future chapters. I would love your thoughts on them: **

**- A 4x06 where, instead of using the fomorroh on Merlin, Morgana tortures him. Whump, obviously. **

**- A different 4x06 in which Arthur catches Merlin on one of his assassination attempts.**

**- A 5x03 in which Merlin follows Arthur when he goes to speak for his father, and the ghost of Balinor is released as well as Uther's (or maybe instead of). **

**- A 1x13 where Arthur walks in on Gaius tending the wound Nimueh gave Merlin in their fight and asks questions(takes place after the episode)**

**- A 2x10 in which Lady Vivian does not let Arthur go so easily**


	20. 1x13

**AN: I don't own Merlin, which I'm sure is a surprise to you all. *Insert sarcasm***

**Welp. **

**So I know this is super late. Life happened, stuff got in the way, blah blah, the usual. Still, sorry for the wait. **

**A few things. First of all, I'm doing all these chapters off of my memory of the episodes, so it is entirely possible I screwed up some things. Take this chapter for example. I have it set the morning after the fight with Nimueh, but I really have no idea how long the journey to the Isle of the Blessed and back takes, so this could be completely unrealistic. If so, I apologize in advance. **

**Secondly, I was kind of in a hurry to post a new chapter(I kind of threw this one together - hope it's ok), so I did this one, which was one of the most popular of my ideas, but I plan to do at least a few more of the requests before I do the rest of my chapters. **

**And lastly, in about a week I will be off camping for a few nights and probably won't have internet access, so there will be a slight gap in updates for all my stories, but hopefully I will post some things for you guys to read while I'm gone (I have a few ideas for oneshots and starts to new stories...wow, plot bunnies can be vicious, can't they?)**

**Anyway, end long AN. Hope you like the chapter!**

As soon as Arthur woke up, he realized something was off. His sleepy brain took a moment to realize what it was, and when he did, he scowled and sat up, blinking blearily.

There was no irritating servant in red and blue yelling at him to get up. The curtains remained mercifully closed, but Arthur could see the thin lines of light peeking out from them and could tell that it was late...too late. There was no breakfast on a platter on his desk, either.

His scowl deepened. His worthless manservant had better hope that he had missed nothing important.

After summoning another servant and much difficulty getting dressed (Arthur was used to Merlin yanking the shirt unceremoniously over his head, not delicately tugging on it half-heartedly for fear of annoying the prince the way this servant did), he quickly wolfed down his breakfast, determined to storm down to Merlin and Gaius's chambers the moment he was done and drag the lazy servant out of there.

His feet slapped loudly against the stone floor as he marched through the castle, and everyone who saw him coming hastily got out of his way, knowing from experience that he was probably too irritating to notice people who were in his way. Servants and nobles sighed and shook their heads, the servants fondly, knowing the prince's servant was going to be on the receiving end of his ire.

Finally, Arthur made it too the physician's chambers, a combined insult and demand on his lips, but before he could burst dramatically in and yell for Merlin to get his lazy self out of bed, he paused.

He heard voices on the other side of the door. He felt a prick of curiosity. One of the voices sounded like Merlin. If the idiot wasn't sleeping in, why was he late?

Slowly, he pushed the door open a crack and peeked in, listening.

He didn't know what he was expecting. But he certainly wasn't expecting the sight that met him.

Merlin was sitting on a patient's cot, lifting his shirt up for Gaius to treat. And it was pretty obvious why.

Arthur had seen lots of injuries in his life, but nothing like this. In the center of what used to be Merlin's pale, unmarred chest was a huge circle of sickly red, tinged with burnt black. It looked like a burn, but a bad one. A very, very bad one. It almost seemed like his skin had been melted off, leaving the reddened flesh underneath. It was singing around the bloody edges, contrasting with the rest of his pale tone.

Arthur didn't understand how Merlin could just sit there calmly with a grimace on his face when it looked like someone had attempted to blast through his chest.

"It will definitely scar," Gaius told him grimly as he reached for his bandages.

"That's alright," Merlin replied. "It's not like anyone will see it. I don't even know how I'd explain this to Arthur..."

"Well, you'll have to try," Arthur declared, pushing the door open all the way and stepping inside.

If he had not felt so serious, he might have been amused at how Merlin jumped and the two of them gave Arthur shocked expressions, and then glanced at each other worriedly.

"Arthur!" Merlin said in a falsely bright voice. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for my missing manservant, who didn't wake me up this morning."

"Ah." Merlin looked out the window and seemed to realize how late it was. "Oops."

_Oops, he says._

"I was, um, occupied," Merlin said lamely.

"I can see that," the prince replied, his calm voice masking the fact that his mind was in turmoil. Who had done this to Merlin? He was slowly getting over his shock, and now anger was taking hold. What could have possessed anyone to hurt innocent, bumbling Merlin?

Something that had been nagging at his mind suddenly grabbed Arthur's attention. He remembered the strange conversation he'd had with his servant.

_"Promise me, if you get another servant, don't get a bootlicker." _

_"If this is you trying to leave your job-"_

_"No, I'm happy to be your servant. 'Till the day I die."_

And then, the strangely significant look Merlin gave him, as though trying to communicate something to Arthur, but the prince was clueless.

And then suddenly, a thought occurred to him. An awful, horrible, impossible thought.

"Gaius, can I speak to you for a moment?"

The change in his tone seemed to take the physician by surprise.

_"'Till the day I die."_

"Of course, sire."

He beckoned for the physician to join him just outside in the hall.

"Gaius," he began in a low voice, "do you know how Merlin got that wound?"

Gaius observed him a moment. Finally, he spoke.

"He told me it was another of his accidents."

Arthur closed his eyes, the sense of dread in his gut growing stronger. "And you think an accident could have caused something as bad as that?"

"I suppose, knowing Merlin," Gaius replied. "Why, sire? Do you think it was something else?"

Arthur swallowed. It wasn't going to be pleasant for the physician to hear this.

"Gaius, last night, Merlin came to my chambers and said some...strange things."

Gaius's eyebrow raised in a familiar arch. "Merlin is a strange person."

"Yes, but even for him." Arthur paused. He really didn't want to say this, voice the possibility, but if his theory was correct, he could not ignore it. "Some of the things he said...it's almost as though he was expecting to die."

He looked closely at Gaius, whose face was suddenly blank. "Gaius...you live with him. You know him best. Is it possible...is it possible he could have done this to himself?"

There. He'd done it. Put the painful possibility out in the open. They could no longer ignore it. He did not know how, but maybe Merlin's injury was the result of him trying to end his own life.

Realization registered on Gaius's face. "Arthur, it's true it's a rather unusual wound, but I do not think Merlin inflicted it himself. Neither do I think he would have wanted to."

"Are you sure?" He felt like he'd known Merlin for ages, but in reality, it was really only about a year. There were lots of things he still didn't know about his servant.

"Sire, think about it. It would be rather difficult for him to do that to himself."

It made sense, but Arthur had to be absolutely sure. "If it wasn't him, then who?"

Gaius hesitated, thinking. Obviously he couldn't tell Arthur Merlin had gotten into a magical fight with a high priestess.

"Well, sire, he didn't want me to tell you this, but...a few nights ago, a few of the other servants - Merlin's friends - took him down to the tavern. I did not want him to go, but against my better judgement, I allowed him. It seems that, after Merlin had been drinking a while, he got into a fight with some of the men there. And...well, you know how some of them are. They do tend to get rather violent. I believe some of them went after Merlin last night."

Arthur stood still, digesting this. Then he felt two different strains of anger rise in him, one more stronger than the other. The first was directed at Merlin for being an idiot in general and getting himself into this mess. The more forceful kind was towards the men who had burnt a hole in his servant's chest.

But at the same time, he was immensely relieved that the wound had not been self-inflicted.

The prince sighed. "The idiot," he grumbled. "Alright. I know you need to treat him. When you're done, send for me. I want to yell at him never to go to the tavern ever again."

"Of course, sire," Gaius replied.

Arthur turned quickly and walked away before the concern he felt for his servant could show on his face. He turned down a hallway, searching for a guard who could keep an eye out for his servant in case the tavern men decided to return for Merlin. If they were found, Arthur would gladly punish them himself.

When Gaius reentered his chambers, he found Merlin sitting exactly where he had been with an accusing look on his face.

"You were listening at the door, weren't you?" the physician sighed.

"Why did you tell him I went to the tavern?" his ward replied indignantly. "D'you know how many chores I'm gonna have to do to make up for that?"

"Merlin, he thought you were suicidal! If he'd kept on thinking that, he would have started looking closer, and he might start noticing things he hasn't noticed before. He does care about you, you know."

Merlin still looked annoyed, but a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. "He did sound rather concerned, didn't he?"

**Yes, I know, this was before the whole tavern excuse really got going, but hey, it fit. Neither Gaius nor Merlin really were creative with their excuses ;)**


	21. 1x04

**AN: Fact of life: I don't own Merlin. Or any other TV show for that matter. **

**Yay! Another request done. It's kinda short :P **

"I'm not sure this is fit to eat for anyone," Arthur said pointedly.

Gwen picked up the platter, smiled slightly but quickly hiding it when she saw the Morteus flower.

Carrying the platter out of the cell, she tried to hurry but do it inconspicuously. Merlin needed this now.

"You there! Wait a moment."

She tensed as the guard stopped her. Turning slowly, she watched him saunter slowly closer. She waited for him to call her out, throw her in the dungeons next to Arthur.

Instead, he picked up a chunk of food on the plate and ate it, completely ignoring the wilted yellow flower.

"Shame to have all that go to waste, wouldn't it?"

She waited while he casually plucked up some more food and ate it, trying not to shift impatiently. Merlin was laying in Gaius's chambers, dying as she stood here waiting for this guard to finish his snack.

Finally, he was done, and Gwen began walking back up the stairs. Unfortunately, just then a serving girl came down holding a platter.

"Food for the prince."

Gwen dropped the platter and ran as one of the guards shouted "Hey! You! Stop!"

The quick footsteps echoed behind her, and she ran faster. Fortunately, she had a head start, but they were fast. She hid the first chance she got and listened to them thunder past.

She waited for their voices and footsteps to subside, but they continued to mill around looking for her. She shifted in agitation. Merlin needed the flower soon.

Finally, she decided she couldn't wait much longer. She would have to make a break for it.

She bolted as soon as she saw an opportunity. She heard shouts and ran faster, and soon the shadows offered her protection from their searching eyes.

She was panting when she entered Gaius's chambers. Her hand with the flower in it stretched out, "I got it" on her lips, but her voice soon died down.

For Gaius was sitting with his head in his hands, staring down at Merlin, who was no longer sucking in breaths with difficulty.

0o0

Arthur paced in his cell, the silence maddening. He wished he knew what was going on. The image of Merlin on the cot, sweat shimmering on his brow, _dying because of him_, would not leave his mind. He didn't want to contemplate what would happen if what he had done to get the antidote counted for nothing.

Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming down the stairs and a tremulous voice saying "I have a message for the prince. I apologize for earlier, it was a misunderstanding. I panicked."

Gwen came into view. Arthur stepped forward as much as his cell would let him, gripping the bars.

"Well?"

She stared at him for a moment, opened her mouth to speak, and promptly burst into tears.

Arthur stared in horror. "Gwen?" he whispered. "Tell me you're crying because you're happy?"

But her sobs were heart-wrenchingly miserable, and he knew the answer.

"How?" he said hoarsely, sinking onto the thin cot. "I thought Gaius said he had four days?"

Gwen shook her head, wiping her eyes. "It was sped up with magic."

Arthur's head snapped up, his eyes cold. "Magic?" he said, voice distant.

Gwen nodded.

"I see." Arthur stood stiffly. "I suppose that makes sense. Magic is evil. My father was right."

She looked at him warily, a sense of dread growing in her gut. Arthur was not completely like Uther, but he was starting to sound like the king. She remembered how she had been recently accused of sorcery out of Uther's paranoia. Would Arthur end up like that?

"Arthur," she began, not quite sure what to say. His eyes met hers, and she was surprised by the coldness in them.

Arthur could see she thought he was exaggerating. But he didn't care. He knew magic was evil. Merlin, though annoying at first, had grown on him until it was like having a little brother follow him around everywhere. A goofy, idiotic brother who never shut up, but wasn't that part of a brother? That they annoyed you most of the time, but when it really mattered, they were there? Arthur had never had someone like that.

Merlin was the most childish, innocent person Arthur had ever met. And magic had came in and tore him down.

In that moment, Arthur vowed that magic would never plague his kingdom when he was king.


	22. 4x06 II

**AN: Merlin is still not mine. **

**I know. Not only is this not a request, but it's been a while since the last chapter. So, to make it up, there will be another chapter shortly! **

Merlin stared at the creature hissing in front of Morgana. He wasn't exactly sure what she planned to do with it, but he knew it couldn't be good.

Morgana confirmed his suspicions a moment later. "In the days of the Old Religion, high priestesses used the fomorroh to enslave the minds of their enemies," she explained to her prisoner, who flinched slightly when she cut off one of the heads.

The witch stepped closer to the chained servant. "Once the fomorroh has taken hold on your mind, everything that makes you Merlin will be gone. You will be given a task, and you will not be able to rest until you have accomplished it."

Merlin had a pretty good idea what that task was and knew he could not allow Morgana to control him. She may think of him as a mere servant, but he knew he could do a lot more damage.

Knowing he was probably going to pay for this, but willing to do so if it meant Arthur would live, he waited until she got close to him. Then, with what little strength he had, he kicked her as hard as he could, silently being thankful that she hadn't chained his feet as well as his hands.

It was rather weak, but it was enough to send her stumbling backwards. Her foot caught on a table leg and she fell. The table tipped, and the fomorroh went flying, its heads hissing wildly.

Then, with a loud crunch, the creature was crushed.

Morgana, hastily getting to her feet with murder in her face, looked over and saw the dead animal. Her face reflected shock, and then fury. Slowly, she turned to Merlin.

"You will pay for that," she said in the deadliest voice he had heard coming from her. He refused to lower his head. Anything she did to him was worth it, so long as Arthur lived. He didn't regret it. Even when she picked up a hot, glowing blade from her hearth.

"Why don't you tell me a little about my dear brother, Merlin? Then I might consider forgiving you," she said in a sickly sweet voice.

He held her gaze defiantly. "You won't get anything from me."

She looked angry, but not surprised. "Well then, this is going to be rather unpleasant for you."

0o0

A few days later, Merlin was still strung up from the roof of Morgana's hut. Only by now, his shirt was tattered both from the multiple cuts he had received as well as the torture curses Morgana loved so much.

He hoped that Arthur would be able to find him here. He didn't think he had the strength to escape just yet, and he really, really wanted to get out of here, where there wasn't a new pain every few hours that caused him to scream out despite his efforts not to.

Morgana seemed to read his mind. She smirked, twisting a dagger between her fingers, looking for a new place to sharpen it on. "Don't expect anyone to be coming for you. By now, Arthur and all of Camelot will be thinking you dead."

0o0

Arthur stared into his flickering fire. Normally, it would have been Merlin to light the hearth. But Merlin wasn't here.

He'd seen the scrap of cloth that Agravaine had showed him. It was supposed to be proof that Merlin was dead. Just like that, Arthur was supposed to accept that his insanely loyal servant was gone forever.

He couldn't. He'd searched the forest with Gwaine, and they'd found no signs of the body. He knew his uncle was trying to make it easier, erase any false hope, but he couldn't help feeling that something was off. He had to believe there was a possibility.

There was a knock at the door. Ignoring the pang he got at thinking about how Merlin never knocked, he said "Enter."

It was his uncle, and he looked somber.

"What is it, Uncle?"

The noble drew closer, a look of cautious sympathy on his face. "My Lord, I just received a report of a group of mercenaries dumping a body in the river. And...they said it fit your servant's description."

No. Nonononono...

"Sire?" Agravaine said tentatively when the king didn't move.

"Leave," Arthur said in a distant voice. `

He heard the door close, but it meant nothing to him. Nothing was important. Merlin was dead. Up until now, he hadn't noticed how much he'd pushed his grief to the side under the pretense of the slim chance that Merlin was still, somehow, alive.

But he wasn't. And now he couldn't hide from that fact any longer.

He put his head in his hands and fought the tears itching at his eyes.

0o0

Merlin awoke to pain, mud, and cold.

His head was a jumble of thoughts. Blinking, he tried to organize his memories.

Morgana. The fomorroh. The fomorroh dying. And then...

He repressed a shudder at the memory at what had happened after that. The lingering pain he felt was enough to let him know that wasn't a nightmare.

A deep, throbbing ache near his stomach. Right. Morgana had stabbed him in the gut when she was done playing with her knife set and practicing her dark spells on him. She must have dumped him out here, in the woods, assuming he would die. She was probably right.

Wincing, he sat up and examined his wound. To his surprise, it wasn't as deep as he'd remembered, and it wasn't so deep that it was guaranteed to be fatal. His magic must have been healing him while he slept.

He squinted against the morning sun. He guessed that it had only been a night that he'd been laying here. He was certainly still weak and exhausted.

His wound throbbed fiercely, and he winced. His healing magic was limited. He needed Gaius. And he needed to return to Camelot. Morgana would surely be quick to hatch another plan to murder the king.

Slowly, painfully, he used a nearby tree to stand. He would barely make it anywhere at this rate. Taking a deep breath, he felt his eyes burn gold. The most he could do was numb the pain a bit to help him walk faster.

The walk was agonizing, but he pressed on, knowing Camelot meant safety and treatment. When he finally saw the gates to the citadel come into view, he wanted to just lie down right there and hope someone would find him, but he forced himself to take a few more steps.

He came closer to the castle, and suddenly he saw a trail of smoke coming from the courtyard. His confusion grew. What was burning? His heart quickened. What if someone had died? Was it a body they were burning? It must be, for he couldn't hear the bustle of guards rushing to put a fire out, nor the alarm bell tolling.

He walked faster, despite the sharp pain he felt with each hurried step.

He arrived at the courtyard to see a crowd of people. His heart sank. Someone had died.

There was a flaming pyre in the center But who? He scanned the crowd. Arthur was there, as well as Gwen, Gaius, and the knights. But they all looked somber. He could see Gwen crying.

He looked over the heads of the crowd to try and get a better look at the pyre. There was no body...

But, behind the flames, tied around a large stick, was his other neckerchief.

What?

His pain-numbing spell chose that moment to wear off. He doubled over, the pain hitting him all at once. He collapsed, and heard shouts of surprise.

For a moment, there was only confusing chatter as Merlin lay there on the edge of consciousness. There was a sudden hush. Then, a familiar voice spoke from somewhere above the servant.

"Get him to Gaius. Now."

Strong, heavy arms lifted him off the ground. He was vaguely aware of the whispers that had broken out all around before he passed out completely.

0o0

Arthur followed Percival and Gaius down to the physician's chambers. He kept glancing at the limp body in Percival's arms, as though fearing he might disappear. It seemed to good to be true that Merlin would appear after Agravaine's report, yet here he was, alive, even if he was clearly hurt.

The door banged open. "Put him here," Gaius said, clearing off the table. Percival placed him down gently. At the same moment, the rest of the knights burst through the door, Gwaine in the lead.

"Is he alive?" Gwaine demanded.

Gaius, who had already begun to examine his ward, answered. "Yes, but he is badly wounded. I'll do what I can, but I can't promise I can save him. Help me take his shirt off," he added to Gwen, who had followed the knights and had been looking on with a worried expression.

They grasped his shirt and pulled up. There was a sharp intake of breath from the knights.

There was a huge, round burn scar on Merlin's chest, but that's not what caught their attention. It was the much more recent array of cuts and burn marks that littered his skin. Not only that, but there were a few dark marks on his skin that Arthur had seen before - they were signs that someone had been subjected to pain-inducing spells. He remembered how a sorcerer had once captured one of his knights and used that on him. The memory alone was enough to make him pale, thinking of that happening to Merlin.

"Gaius, is that what I think it is?" Gwaine said, his voice trembling with rage.

"I'm afraid so," Gaius said grimly.

"What?" Gwen asked.

Gwaine, who was looking like he was about to break something, replied. "Torture. Some one tortured Merlin."

Gwen gasped, and her eyes welled up once more.

"I need space to work," Gaius commanded, for they had all been leaning over to look at him. "Please, sire. I will notify you when he wakes."

Rather reluctantly, they filtered slowly out of the room.

0o0

Merlin woke to warmth and a blanket covering him. Therefore, he must not be stuck with Morgana anymore. He blinked blearily, and Gaius's chambers came into view.

"Gaius?" he mumbled.

The physician turned from where he had been mixing potions. "Merlin! You're awake!"

"What happened?" the warlock asked, face screwed up as he tried to remember.

Before his guardian could answer, the door opened and the king entered. He paused when he saw that Merlin was awake.

"Arthur," Merlin said when the king didn't say anything.

Arthur nodded. "Merlin. How're you feeling?"

Immediately he wanted to kick himself. _He's just been tortured, how do you think he's feeling?!_ he thought harshly.

"Been better," Merlin muttered. "What happened?" he repeated.

"You don't...remember?" Arthur said cautiously. Was there a chance that, having been as badly hurt as he was, he would be lucky enough not to remember his ordeal? Arthur's stomach plummeted. Or maybe it had been so traumatic he had unconsciously repressed the recollection.

"I remember being in Morgana's hut-"

"Morgana?!" Arthur cut in in alarm.

"Yes, she captured me...she must have hired the mercenaries."

Arthur said nothing, but rage was simmering in his gut, along with horrible guilt that he'd let this happen. He'd seen what Morgana was now capable of, and he shuddered, imagining the things she could do to Merlin...

"Is she the one who..." Arthur felt his throat tighten before he could finish his sentence, but Merlin understood.

"Yeah," he said, somewhat awkwardly.

"How on Earth did you escape?" the king asked quietly.

Merlin swallowed. "She stabbed me when she was done...having her fun, and then left me in the forest. I think she thought I was going to die out there. I thought she was right," he chuckled hoarsely. "I walked back to Camelot, and the last thing I remember..."

Suddenly, he sat bolt upright, ignoring the jarring pain it caused.

"Arthur!" he exclaimed in panic. "When I got here, there was a funeral going on. Who died?!"

The king, who had been staring, horrified, as his friend recounted his time Morgana, snapped out of it.

"Well...you did."

Merlin's brow scrunched in confusion. "What?"

"You were presumed dead. There was no body to burn, so we settled for your neckerchief."

"But..." The servant still looked confused. "That wasn't a servant's funeral." What he had seen was a funeral for a knight. When servants died, they usually were given a private funeral by their family. They certainly didn't get anything as extravagant as a public funeral in the courtyard, with the king and knights present.

"Yeah, well, that's what my uncle said. But apparently you are quite popular among the servants, and they scrounged up some money to give you a nice funeral, and then Gwaine got involved, and then it just kind of...snowballed."

Merlin stared. He couldn't believe they would do that for him. In fact, he was feeling a little lightheaded...or maybe that was just his recent blood loss. "Wow," he muttered, wincing and rubbing his head.

Arthur stared at him, biting his lip. Then, suddenly, he gave in and moved forward to envelop his surprised servant in a hug.

Merlin heard a quiet voice in his ear murmur "I thought we'd lost you."


	23. 5x09 II

**AN: Nope, still don't own any of it. **

**Told you I would have another chapter up quick! I hope to get around to more of your requests soon.**

_Chapter 23: 5x09, With All My Heart. Set after Merlin has cleansed Gwen._

Merlin saw Gwen and Arthur embrace in the cauldron. Saw their smiles, Gwen's teary face, Mordred's relieved one.

But he only registered the fact that he had succeeded for a split second before the same success caught up to him.

Exhaustion hit him like a dizzying punch, and his knees buckled and then gave out. His vision was going fuzzy around the edges.

He was surprised to hear a shout from Arthur. Apparently, the king hadn't been so wrapped up in what had just happened that he had missed the "Dolma"'s collapse.

There was suddenly three shadows clustered around him, and Mordred bent over to examine him. There was concern on his face, and Merlin was sure that the druid knew the truth.

"What is it?" Arthur asked in confusion and - was that worry?

Merlin tried to wave it away, but his arm felt heavy. "Nothing, nothing. The spell is a little draining, that's all."

"More than a little," Mordred said. "That took a lot of power, didn't it?"

"But...she will be all right, won't she?" Arthur said.

Mordred looked up at the king. "I cannot say, sire."

Arthur's eyes widened. Merlin was confused. Sure, he had just saved Gwen, but Arthur looked truly worried. Why would he be so concerned about someone he just met, a stranger with magic, no less?

He got his answer a moment later when the king knelt down close.

"Where's my servant?"

Oh. Right.

Merlin swallowed. "He, umm-"

"You will return him to me," Arthur commanded. "You said if you died, we would never see him again. Not to be insensitive, but if that was not a bluff-"

"Arthur!" Gwen chastised.

Their bickering was only making Merlin feel more drowsy. His strength was still steadily leaving him, and he began to get genuinely worried. Perhaps he had been right, perhaps he didn't have the strength to pull this off. He was beginning to fade in and out of consciousness now.

It was only when Arthur spoke again and Merlin realized he could hear nothing when he realized. He was fading fast. He wasn't going to make it.

At least he had saved Gwen. He smiled slightly, at least he could take some comfort in that. Arthur was looking panicked now, but he would get over loosing his servant and become the king he was meant to. Mordred...Merlin felt a prickle of dread. There was still Mordred. He wouldn't be able to stop him killing Arthur. He could only hope Gaius would continue to do all he could to prevent that from happening. Gaius...poor Gaius. Had he the strength, he would have winced, picturing the physician's reaction when they went back and told him the sorceress who had saved Gwen had died doing so.

Now his vision was going, and slowly so were his aches. It would be all over soon. There was no point in fighting it. He took one, last look at Arthur and Gwen, his two best friends, and then let go. He stopped trying to preserve energy, stopped holding onto the aging spell, and let the darkness take him.

0o0

Arthur was becoming more and more nervous. He hadn't realized the spell would take such a toll on the Dolma. He felt guilty, of course, he had asked her to do this. But he also remembered that she was the only one who knew how to get Merlin back.

"You will return him to me. You said if you died, we would never see him again. Not to be insensitive, but if that wasn't a bluff-"

"Arthur!" Gwen said sharply from behind him. He knew he wasn't exactly being kind, but after nearly loosing his queen, the thought of loosing anyone close to him make him jumpy. He had just gotten her back, which he was thankful for, but he did not want it to come at the price of his friend.

But even as they spoke, the old woman's eyes became more and more distant. They could all sense it. She wasn't much longer for the world.

"Tell me! Please!"

But there was no response, and Arthur was really starting to panic. What if they never got Merlin back?

And then, suddenly, right before the last bit of light left the sorceress's eyes, she changed. Where there had been an old woman, there was now the familiar face of his manservant.

"Merlin!" Arthur exclaimed, relief starting to settle in, but it was soon pushed away by fear. At first, he thought that maybe the Dolma had transported Merlin here somehow, but his eyes were glassy and empty, and Arthur felt a pit of dread appear in his stomach.

"Merlin?" he said again, a little more urgently. Beside him, Mordred pressed his fingers to the other man's neck in search of a pulse.

Finally, he pulled away and gave the king a look that made Arthur feel terror as he had rarely felt it before, and prayed that Mordred would not say what he thought he was going to.

Unfortunately, he did.

"I'm sorry, sire."


	24. 1x07

**AN: Still don't own. **

**Yep. This is a very late post. It turns out not only does school take up most of your time, having to learn a bunch of random facts tends to dull creativity (at least for me). However, hopefully you can expect more chapters tomorrow! :)**

**Thanks to whoever requested this, I really liked the idea. Not sure how I did with it, but I gave it a go and I hope you like it!**

"I'm sure he would be here...had I remembered to tell him," Merlin said, ending his rambling. It was rather hard not to babble somewhat when Uther was staring coolly at you with his dominating, calculating expression.

"If this were a time of war, I would have you flogged," Uther said in icy exasperation.

"But since it's not we'll let it go just this once?" Merlin replied hopefully.

This turned out to be the wrong thing to say. Uther may have seemed indifferent, but at this comment his dislike for the gutsy servant made an appearance on his expression.

"It is not up to you to decide that," he said with a hint of a snarl. "In fact, this is a wonderful opportunity to teach you a lesson that will help jog your memory next time."

Merlin gulped.

0o0

Arthur checked his reflection for the third time. If all went well, Sophia would enjoy her tour of Camelot, courtesy of the prince.

He was about to leave his chambers, hopefully without running into his father or any of the knights he was supposed to go on patrol with when there was a knock on the door.

It was Leon. "Sire. The king has postponed the morning patrol and asked for your presence in the courtyard."

"Whatever for?" Arthur asked, confused and irritated that his time with Sofia had been stolen.

Leon hesitated. "He...he's ordered your servant to be whipped, sire."

"What?!" Arthur yelped, icy panic flooding him, all thoughts of Sofia gone. "Why?!"

Leon looked at him sympathetically. "I believe he failed to tell you your father was expecting you on patrol this morning."

The prince swallowed, raging guilt now mixing with his fear for his servant. That was a lie. A lie Merlin had told for Arthur. Leon might as well have shouted "IT'S YOUR FAULT" in his face.

"When?"

"Well...now, Sire."

The words had barely left his mouth before Arthur was barreling past him out into the hall. Servants were forced to flatten against the walls as the prince flat-out sprinted through the corridors.

His mind was racing. He couldn't believe his father was having Merlin whipped for what he thought was a simple slip-up. Every other whipping he'd seen surfaced in his memory, and he fought the urge to be sick. Those were hard enough on those victims, but Merlin was smaller and weaker than all of them. He only hoped he wasn't too late. He wasn't sure if Merlin could take what his father had in mind.

Then, as he neared the courtyard, he heard the unmistakable sound of a whip cracking.

He skidded to a halt outside. There was a huge crowd surrounding someone in the center. Frantically, he pushed his way to the front.

Merlin's hands were tied to a post and his shirt had been removed. He had been forced into a kneeling position in front of the stake. His shaky frame was skinny and the skin that was visible was pale. The rest of his paleness couldn't be seen because it was painted crimson. It dripped down his back and pooled at his knees.

Arthur resisted the urge to throw up at the sight of his servant's lifeblood leaking onto the cool stone. Almost against his will, his eyes went to the boy's face. His jaw was locked, teeth gritted in pain, and his eyes were scrunched closed. Arthur thought he saw a tears shimmering on his pale cheeks.  
The prince had been so caught up in his horror that he didn't notice Merlin's punisher raise the whip once more and bring it down once more on the servant's raw and bleeding back. A cry escaped the boy's mouth, piercing the air that was already thick with tension.

"STOP!"

The tall man with the whip paused, his arm already raised for another strike. The crowd looked around for the source of the shout.

Arthur felt his father's cool gaze land on him. "Stop," the prince repeated. "He did nothing wrong. Release him immediately."

Uther's face was impassive. Arthur could tell the king wanted to yell at him but would not make a scene in front of his people. "Arthur? What is the meaning of this?"

"I will explain, father, I promise. Release him," Arthur added more sharply to the guards, "and take him to Gaius."

The old physician was already hurrying towards his chambers. Arthur made to follow as the guards carried Merlin's limp form after Gaius, but found his way suddenly blocked.

His father had come down from the balcony, and Arthur could tell by his face that he was very angry. He met his father's glare evenly.

"Arthur, you had better have a good reason for this, or I will have your servant receive forty more lashes and a night in the dungeons," the king said in a calm voice that nevertheless conveyed his anger.

"I do," the prince assured him. "I'm afraid this is my fault. I as-ordered Merlin to come up with a lie to get me out of patrol this morning. I wanted to spend the morning showing Sofia around. I'm sorry, it was irresponsible."

Uther sighed. "Yes, yes it was. Perhaps next time you will think twice about trying such a thing. You have duties, you cannot skive them off whenever a pretty girl comes into town."

"Of course," Arthur said quickly, pushing aside the prickle of unease.

Uther frowned. Arthur's anxiousness to get to Gaius's chambers and check on his manservant was rather obvious. His irritation with the idiot grew. He had no idea Arthur was so attached to the boy. It wasn't good for him to care so much for a simple servant.

"Arthur," he called softly. The prince paused on his way to the physician's chambers.

"Yes, father?"

Uther looked his son in the eyes so that he knew he was dead serious. "Should your concern for the boy get in the way of your duties I can always see to it that you won't have to worry over him anymore."

Arthur suppressed a shiver at the clear threat, dismay settling in. Though no amount of persuasion would convince him to say it out loud, he had, in fact, grown surprisingly fond of his servant, and hearing his father threaten him was not exactly heartening. He wanted to protest, but he could tell this was serious. Arthur knew his father disapproved of his friendship with his servant, and he had a growing unease that if stood up for Merlin, his father would only bring more punishment for him.

But he pushed it away for now. Right now, he needed to see Merlin, to make sure that his mistake had not hurt the boy too much.

The guilt returned full-force when he entered Gaius's chambers. His servant was laid out on a patient's cot, thankfully unconscious. His back was a mess of slowly drying blood and severed skin. Arthur knew that Merlin's back would forever bear the scars of his selfishness.

"Gaius?" he said hoarsely as the physician bustled about, preparing bandages and picking out concoctions. "Will he be alright?"

Gaius hardly looked up. "Yes. But he will need time to heal. Could you hand me the water bowl?"  
Arthur complied without even thinking about it. Gaius took the water and began washing away the blood. The prince started to feel nauseous as the deep cuts were revealed and he saw that the few parts of his flash left untouched were red and inflamed.

Gaius must have noticed. "Why don't you let me work, sire? I'll have you notified when he wakes up."  
Arthur nodded mutely and turned on his heel to leave. He didn't think he could stand another moment in that room with his gnawing guilt.

0o0

Arthur was notified later that day that Merlin had been fully treated, but the prince didn't go to visit his servant. He told Gwen and Morgana it was because he felt Merlin needed his rest, but he had a feeling they saw right through him.

He was afraid to face Merlin.

He knew it was ridiculous. His servant probably wouldn't be angry with him, even though he deserved it. Still, every time he approached Gaius's chambers he started to picture his servant's face when he remembered it was his master's fault he had practically been torn to shreds, and his nerves failed him.

Eventually, it took Morgana's glaring, Gwen's sidelong glances that she thought Arthur wouldn't notice and Gaius's evaluating looks that finally pushed him to walk through the door he knew Merlin was behind. His servant was sitting with his back to him, a blanket around his shoulders, eating a bowl of soup Gaius was pouring. With a pang, Arthur remembered the incident when Merlin had drank poison with him. Another time he had taken pain for Arthur. The servant hadn't noticed him, but the physician had.

At a significant look from the prince, Gaius said "Merlin, if you can manage by yourself for a while, I need to run some errands."

The servant waved his hand. "I'll be fine. You go ahead."

Arthur waited until the physician's footsteps had disappeared before clearing his throat. Merlin started at the sound and turned.

"Arthur!" he said brightly.

"Merlin," the prince replied. It was odd. All this time, he had been hoping Merlin wouldn't be angry at him. Now, seeing his servant greet him without anything accusatory in his expression or tone, he wished Merlin would be at least a little angry. He deserved it, after all, it was his fault this had happened.

"I see you're feeling better,'' he said lamely.

"Yeah. Gaius patched me up pretty well," Merlin replied, wincing slightly as he turned.

Arthur felt his throat tighten. He needed to say it, but the words did not want to leave his mouth. Damn it, why was this so hard?

"I'm sorry."

He blurted it out before he could chicken out. Merlin raised an eyebrow.

"What was that? Am I dreaming, or did you just apologize?"

Arthur sighed. "You heard me. I said I'm sorry. I asked you to lie for me..."

Immediately, his servant shook his head. "You didn't know your father would do that. It's not your fault."

_It is, though._

"It is. So, next time, if I ever tell you to do such a thing again, this is the only time I am giving you permission to tell me to stuff it." Their eyes met, and Arthur could tell they were thinking the same thing: since when did Merlin need Arthur's permission to call him names?

But the servant just grinned and replied with "Gladly."

The prince rolled his eyes, and he felt some of the relentless guilt he'd felt leave him. Merlin was going to be alright. He wasn't angry with Arthur. In a few days, things would go back to the way things were, the way they were meant to be.

Well, it wouldn't be completely the same.

"Merlin, I need to tell you something," the prince said seriously. He looked his servant in the eyes. "Be careful around my father."


	25. 5x04

**AN: Arthur will knight Merlin before I own any of this. **

**I hate writer's block. With a passion. **

**It's been a while, but I'm finally back! With more chapters coming soon!**

_Chapter 25: 5x04, Another's Sorrow. Set after Morgana, disguised as Hilda, attacks Merlin. _

* * *

**_P.S. I realize I've been forgetting to do these things ^ sorry bout that, I hope I haven't confused anyone._**

* * *

The knights watched in alarm as Merlin was laid down on the cot, a red patch on his forehead. All of them were too busy to notice the dismayed and guilty look on Mithian's face, nor Hilda's uncaring expression.

"What happened?"

"I found him by the river," Hilda replied. "He must have slipped and hit his head."

Arthur silently cursed his servant's clumsiness. He would never tell Merlin this, but his presence was somehow reassuring in situations like this, when he wasn't sure he was doing the right thing, taking his men into potential danger. Which was ridiculous, because in an attack Merlin was more of a liability than a help, not being able to protect himself.

"He's sustained a heavy blow to the head," Gaius informed them, examining his ward's forehead.

"But he'll be alright?" Arthur replied, careful to keep any worry out of his voice. He wasn't sure he succeeded.

"He should be fine, Sire, but he may not wake up for a while."

The king felt all the eyes on him. He debated silently for a moment.

"We can't wait for him," he finally said reluctantly. "Gaius, Gwaine-"

He broke off as Merlin stirred. His head lolled to the side and his eyes fluttered open blearily. Arthur didn't notice how out of focus they seemed and had to reel in the concern threatening to show on his face. He knew how dangerous head injuries could be, after all, Morgana had hit her head once and almost d-

_Stop it. He's not going to die._

"Merlin?" Gaius said cautiously. The fact that the physician now looked worried didn't bode well. He wasn't sure if it was good or not that Merlin had woken sooner than expected.

The servant blinked a few more times, focusing on the small group clustered around him. His blue gaze landed first on the physician in front of him, then roamed to the king and the knights standing over him, and then slipped past them. Mithian hovered towards the back, guilt written all over her face. Next to her, Hilda met his gaze challengingly.

Immediately, he sat bolt upright, which proved to be a bad idea as it made his head spin. Ignoring the surprised sounds at this, he waited a moment with his eyes shut for the dizziness to pass. When it did, he opened his eyes and spotted a sword laid carelessly by the fire. Forcing himself to ignore the pounding of his head, he lunged off the cot for it.

Before they could blink, he'd spun around and pointed it at Hilda.

"Merlin!" Arthur's surprised shout echoed between against the stone. "What are you doing?" He shot a worried look at Gaius. "What's wrong with him?"

The physician just replied with a bewildered look. Merlin, however, was glaring at Hilda, who in turn was sizing him up, weighing her options.

"Nothing's wrong with me," Merlin replied in a low voice.

"Then why are you pointing your sword at Hilda?" the king inquired as the knights exchanged confused glances.

"Look at her, Arthur," the servant replied quietly as he and Hilda continued to stare daggers at each other. Some of the knights's eyes narrowed. Maybe there was reason to be suspicious of Hilda. Why would she be looking at Merlin with so much hate?

Arthur, however, apparently hadn't noticed. "What do you mean?" he said in exasperation. He glanced at Hilda, but missed the thing his servant wanted him to see.

"She's Morgana, Arthur," the warlock said as his head throbbed viciously. He could tell he was injured, but his magic must have sensed the danger he was in and woken him. "She's using some kind of aging spell."

Beside him, Mithian closed her eyes, looking both relieved and worried. Arthur froze. Merlin could see his eyes raking her features and Morgana trying to arrange her features in an innocent expression, but he had a feeling she knew it was over.

Arthur's eyes met hers, the only unchanged feature on her face. "Morgana?" he whispered uncertainly.

Her facade dropped. "Hello, brother."

Her eyes flashed and Merlin flew back once more, hitting the wall with a cry of pain. Shouts came from the knights and the air was cleaved by the sharp sound of swords leaving their scabbards, but another flash of her eyes and all the weapons flew from their hands.

As her cruel grin grew, her features morphed until she was once again recognizable. Arthur stared in dread at his half-sister, along with a growing feeling of anger towards himself. The woman had lived with him for years. How had he not realized it was her?

"Well, looks like my secret's out," she sighed. "Not that it matters. The situation remains the same. I have Rodor. He will die unless you go for him. You could always try to escape," she shrugged, "but then Rodor will die and I'll just capture you myself."

For a moment, there was silence as Morgana and Arthur stared at each other. The whole group seemed to hold its breath. Despite the fact that Morgana was outnumbered, they all seemed to fear her. They knew her powers had grown even since their last encounter with her.

"The choice is yours, Arthur," Morgana said softly.

Arthur opened his mouth to speak, suddenly a large fist swung out of nowhere and Morgana dropped like a sack of rocks.

Percival looked up, a grim look his face. Arthur took a moment to be thankful that a man that large could be so stealthy.

Mithian turned to Arthur, guilt all over her face. "Arthur...I'm so sorry, she had my father...I didn't want to-"

Arthur held up a hand. "I understand, Mithian, but now is not the time for that. We don't know when Morgana will wake. Right now, we need to plan."

Mithian bit her lip worryingly. "Arthur - I know it's a trap, and I know it's a risk, but..." She furiously blinked back tears. "It's my father. You...you understand, right?"

The king held her gaze. "Yes," he said quietly, "yes I do."

Leon, ever the voice of logic, chose this moment to intervene. "Sire, as she said, we know it's a trap. Odin and his men will be waiting..."

Arthur acknowledged knight's advice with a nod, but they saw the steely determination they knew meant he had already made up his mind. "I would rather not leave Nemeth under the control of Odin, especially knowing he has allied himself with Morgana."

He looked around at his knights. Merlin had gotten to his feet, grimacing, a worrying streak of blood trailing from his raven fringe.

"We'll follow Mithian, and hopefully the element of surprise will help us. We need to disarm as many of Odin's men as possible, get in, get the king, get out."

The others made noise of agreement and began milling around, preparing to leave. Merlin began packing up, only to feel a hand on his shoulder.

"Not you, Merlin," Gaius said firmly. "You're still injured."

"I'm fine," the warlock tried to insist, only to be overcome by a sudden wave of lightheadedness.

"Gaius is right," Arthur said. "We can't have you fainting in the middle of a fight if we need to escape. You will stay here."

"But-"

"That's an order."

The knights had not been gone for fifteen seconds before Merlin whirled around to look at his mentor.

"Gaius, how many healing spells do you know?"

The physician looked up with a resigned expression. "Would you stay here if I said none?"

"Nope," his ward replied matter-of-factly.


	26. 1x01

**AN: Merlin has not magically become mine since the last chapter. **

**This is a rather short chapter...and it's really mostly just adding Merlin whump where there previously was none. You're welcome.**

_Chapter 26: 1x01, The Dragon's Call. Set at the end when the witch disguised as Lady Helen is about to try and kill Arthur at the feast. _

Lords and ladies blinked in confusion. The king himself had to disentangle himself from the thick layer of cobwebs that had appeared over him. The buzz of commotion grew slightly louder when the guests looked over and saw the witch on the floor, buried under a chandelier.

Before anyone could do more than blink groggily, however, the witch raised her head, still dressed as Lady Helen, and drew out a dagger. In a split second, with a flick of her wrist the weapon was flying towards the prince.

Merlin, who had been standing off to the side, the only one who hadn't fallen under her spell, instinctively reached for his magic. At the moment, it didn't matter that the prince was a huge prat, or that he'd tried to take his head off with a mace. All Merlin knew was that he was the only one who could save his life.

Time slowed down. The dagger turned in slow circles, growing closer to its target with each. The warlock ran, but he still wasn't even that close. Desperately, he worked his legs harder. But even with time slowed down, he could see there were only moments before the dagger sank itself into the prince's chest.

With a cry of "Look out!", even though he knew it was useless, Merlin threw himself forward. Arthur was forced out of the path of the oncoming blade.

Time sped up once more in time for everyone to hear a resounding_ thunk._

Arthur blinked. One moment he had been sure a dagger was going to place itself into his front, next he was laying on the hard stone floor. Scrambling to get to his feet, he looked around to find the reason for his survival and felt his mouth drop open.

Somehow, the clumsy idiot he had met in the market had pushed him awkwardly to the side, saving his life in the process.

The same clumsy idiot who was now slumped in his chair, a knife embedded in his chest.

Suddenly, Gaius was there. Arthur was vaguely aware of the murmurs running through the hall, the sound of gossip manifesting. The prince hardly cared. All he really registered was confusion. Why on Earth had Merlin chosen to take a dagger for him?

0o0

It turned out that Merlin may have been scrawny, but he was tougher than he looked. To everyone's surprise, he managed to pull through with the help of Gaius.

Arthur wouldn't say he was disappointed, exactly, but he still wasn't looking forward to doing what he had to do.

It was a few days after the feast. Merlin was still recovering with Gaius when the prince made his way down to the physician's chambers.

Merlin was awake, wincing slightly with every movement, and despite his previous annoyance, Arthur felt a pang of sympathy. Knife wounds hurt. And the idiot had taken one for him. He supposed he could drop his irritation with the mouthy peasant long enough for this.

"My father made you my servant as a reward," the prince informed the physician's ward, still irritated at this. Merlin's face reflected his own dismay. "So as soon as you're better, you're to start your duties. I will have another servant come by and give your list of chores."

He wanted to say something. Despite his blatant disrespect for his superiors, he had saved Arthur's life. Still...he wasn't good at this sort of thing. He stood awkwardly in the doorway for a moment.

"So try not to die between now and then."

With that, he turned on his heel and left before his new servant could respond.


	27. 2x12

**AN: GUESS WHAT GUESS WHAT I don't own Merlin. **

**Thanks to everyone for all the reviews/favs/follows! I think this was another request.**

_Chapter 27: 2x12, The Fires of Idirsholas. Set when Merlin has just poisoned Morgana._

The prince burst through the doors - his servant had forgotten to replace the beam that held them shut. He was panting, fatigue weighing him down, and his brow was slick with sweat, but he had managed to fend off most of his enemies temporarily.

"I've held them off for now, have you finished-"

Arthur broke off abruptly.

Merlin's face was miserable and tear-streaked. Morgana's was fearful, pained and...was that anger? She was laying with Merlin's arms tight around her, but appeared to be trying to fight him off. The strips they had been tying together lay forgotten on the floor.

"What's going on?!" the prince demanded.

Morgana, emitting strained gasps as though struggling to breath, stared at him as though trying to convey what she couldn't say. She glanced at Merlin and then back to Arthur, clearly trying to say something important, but he didn't have a clue what that was.

Merlin just shook his head as more tears cascaded down his face.

The prince knelt down next to his adoptive sister. Her hands were around her throat, furthering Arthur's panicked suspicions that she could breathe.

"Merlin, what's wrong with her?!" he demanded. He found it hard to believe that his servant had no idea what was wrong.

Before the raven-haired man could answer Morgana managed to form a faint sound.

"Poi...son," she stuttered breathlessly.

His eyes widened, heart racing. How on earth had she gotten poisoned?

"Poison? What kind of poison?"

She shook her head helplessly. Her hopelessness was beginning to infect him, and he had to calm himself. He moved on to the next question.

"Who?"

Morgana flicked her eyes pointedly towards Merlin. Taking this to mean he should ask his servant because of Morgana's current inability to speak, he looked up at Merlin questioningly.

The raven-haired boy was paler than Arthur had ever seen him. Tears continued to stream down his face, but now there were signs of fear in his blue eyes.

"Merlin? Do you know who poisoned Morgana?"

The king's ward gave him an incredulous look and struggled more, still desperately trying to suck in air. Something clicked in his head.

"Are you trying to say Merlin poisoned you?" Arthur said confusedly.

Morgana nodded urgently, but Arthur scoffed.

"Why would Merlin poison you, Morgana? He's your friend."

Those words sparked a murderous glint in Morgana's eyes, and she gave him a look that said _why don't you ask him that?_

Arthur looked back up at his servant, another incredulous retort on the tip of his tongue, but it faded.  
Because at the accusation, Merlin had started trembling, and unbearable guilt suddenly shone, unhidden, in his eyes.

"Merlin?" he said in confusion. "What's she talking about?"

The servant opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again.

"She's telling the truth."

The warlock knew it wasn't smart to tell the truth, that it might get him killed. But he already felt guilty enough, first at the fact that he had to constantly lie and also at the fact that he had just poisoned his friend. If tried to lie about, this, he just might crack.

Arthur heard, but didn't believe. Not at first, anyway. It made no sense, Merlin couldn't kill a deer for God's sake! But, staring at his servant, Arthur felt doubt sink in. Emotion like that couldn't be faked...

And there was Morgana, her face full of anger and hurt.

Arthur was starting to feel that hurt. Slowly but surely, his own anger was sinking in. What reason could Merlin possibly have to justify this.

Merlin flinched as the prince's face hardened with fury.

"Why?" he spat.

"Arthur-" he stopped, he was almost certain Arthur had almost reached for his sword. He took a deep breath and continued.

"I didn't want to. But...Arthur, she's the source of the sleeping sickness. It's not illness, it's magic. And she's the energy source that's keeping it going."

"First of all, that sounds like a load of rubbish," Arthur hissed. "and secondly, so you just poison her? Just like that?"

"It's the truth," Merlin whispered miserably. "And there's no other way." He briefly considered telling the prince that his friend had been conspiring with Morgause, but, seeing Arthur's anger already high enough as it was, suspected another accusation might not be well received.

Arthur all but snarled, and actually looked ready to strangle Merlin, when the door burst open.  
It was Morgause. Reflexively, Arthur reached for his sword, but the blond witch ignored him. Instead, her eyes honed in on the dark-haired woman in Merlin's arms, now unconscious.

Morgause actually pushed Arthur and Merlin away. Gently, she lifted Morgana's head in her arms and stared down at her fellow witch.

"Sister..." she breathed. "What have they done to you?"

Merlin didn't even look at Arthur's face. Instead, he watched Morgause examine Morgana and managed a weak "I had to." Morgause stared at him.

"You've poisoned her!"

There was disbelief and incredulity mixed with the anger in her voice, and Merlin couldn't help but feel a spark of annoyance. Even his enemies found it surprising when he managed to do something!

He stood up sharply. "You gave me no choice!" he retorted.

Morgause glanced back at her sister. "Tell me what you used. I can still save her."

Merlin felt a little flicker of hope. Perhaps they could all get out of this alive.

"Call off the attack."

Her eyes widened. "You are nothing but a simple servant, you will not tell me what to do!"

"If you want to know what poison it is, you will undo that magic that drives the knights!"

"Give me the poison or you'll die!" Morgause shouted.

"But she'll die with me."

Merlin's response was quiet but sure. Morgause stared a moment longer and then turned back to Morgana, resting her forehead against her sister's.

"I don't want this any more than you do, but you've given me no choice," Merlin continued. "Stop the knights, and you can save her."

For a moment there was silence as Morgause observed him with damp eyes. Finally, she lowered her gaze in defeat.

Words of the Old Religion flowed off her tongue. Her eyes glowed, and the air tingled faintly with magic.  
The witch looked up expectantly. Wordlessly, the servant held out his hand that contained the bottle of hemlock.

Morgause took it, and before anyone else could react, her eyes glowed once more, and a funnel of wind picked up, swirling around her and Morgana. Merlin and Arthur shouted in surprise, but withing moments, both were gone.

Merlin didn't want to look at the prince. He didn't want to know if Arthur would hate him. If he had been angry before, he was certain to be furious now.

He stood still, waiting for the yelling, the accusations, but instead all he heard was a sigh.

"C'mon, Merlin," came the prince's voice, dull with suppressed pain. "We've got work to do."


End file.
